


PARK TIME TOGETHER

by AwkwardPlatypus13



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Amusement Parks, Birthday, F/M, Fluff and Humor, GakuTsumuBaby Sei (OC), Other, Romantic Fluff, Slice of Life, Tenn & Riku brother relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-02 09:34:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20273770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwkwardPlatypus13/pseuds/AwkwardPlatypus13
Summary: This story takes place in an Alternate Universe where Gaku and Tsumugi are married and had a son, created by @pickledmint on Twitter. Events take place about five years after Part 4.BandnamcoLand let all of the entertainers and celebrities who performed or attended their 25th anniversary gala and their families have free reign of the park for the day. It happens to coincide nicely around Gaku’s birthday, so Tsumugi decided to make a big deal out of it and make sure all of their friends’ schedules would align for this. IDOLiSH7, TRIGGER, Re:Vale, and ZOOL are in attendance. Gaku and Tsumugi's 3-year-old son, Sei, finds himself being passed around shuffled groups of people while having his first day at an amusement park.





	1. Let the Fun Begin!

A sleek white limousine, one large white van, an SUV decked out in TRIGGER paraphernalia, and two black limousines pulled into the nearly empty parking lot at BandnamcoLand. They all parked sporadically within the lot. The side door of the van opened first, and out poured seven men.  
Mitsuki ran out ahead of the rest, stretched his arms overhead and shouted, “It’s BandnamcoLand!!!”  
“Nii-san is always the same,” Iori muttered, putting his hand in front of his mouth to try to conceal a soft grin.  
“OH! I didn’t get to finish my episode of Cocona! If only the drive had been seven minutes longer!” Nagi bemoaned.  
“Uuu~ This onii-san is getting too old for long car rides. I wonder if they have chilled beer for sale already,” Yamato commented as he tried to stretch his back.  
“I wanna win a Ousama Purin plushie at the arcade!” Tamaki exclaimed as he began running for the entrance.  
“Ah, T-Tamaki-kun, please wait for the rest of us!” Sougo exasperatedly jogged after him.  
“Ahaha, MEZZO seems very excited to get into the park,” Banri commented as he shut the driver’s door. “The rest of you should follow them. I’m going to go make sure the presidents had a safe drive. I’m still afraid putting President in the same car as Yaotome-san was a bad idea.”  
“I’m gonna go see if Tenn-nii had a safe drive too!”  
“Nanase-san! Don’t run, please! Save your excitement for the rides!” Iori stopped following Mitsuki and ran after Riku.

“Here we are, boys!” Anesagi called out. “We said we’d meet up with everyone at the entrance, so let’s get going!”  
Ryuu and Tenn exited the car, just as Riku and Iori ran up to them.  
“Tenn-ni—”  
“Riku, how many times do I have to tell you not to needlessly run,” Tenn chided, arms folded.  
“Ehehe, glad to see you had a safe drive Tenn-nii!” Riku tried to reroute the conversation.  
“Anesagi-san has always been a reliable driver!” Ryuunosuke smiled. “Oh, look, ZOOL is here now too. Looks like they’re headed to the entrance already.”  
“We better join the rest of our group then, Nanase-san,” Iori tried to gently guide Riku in the direction where the rest of IDOLiSH7 was waiting.  
“Aw, but I want to see Sei-chan when he gets here! Where is Yaotome-san and Manager, anyways?”  
“Ah, they’re in the presidents’ limo,” Ryuu gestured to one of the black limousines that had just finished parking. “We thought that if they rode in the same vehicle as them that there would be less tension by the time we arrived.”

“Tsumugi, are you sure you don’t want me to get him out of his car seat?” Otoharu asked as she began gingerly undoing the straps on Sei’s car seat.  
“It’s fine, Father, I am an expert of getting him out of his car seat without waking him.”  
“You’re just fishing for an excuse to hold him before anyone else gets a chance to,” Sousuke grumbled as he got out of the car and kept the door open for Tsumugi.  
“Oyaji,” Gaku said with a stern tone, “remember the promise you made Tsumugi about being nice for the day.” Sousuke was about to reply but just scowled.  
“Yaotome-san,” Tsumugi said as she effortlessly lifted Sei onto her shoulder and politely smiled, “Would you mind grabbing Sei-chan’s bag for me? And Father, you could get the stroller ready, please.”  
The two presidents jumped to action without saying another word.  
“Tsumugi, I could always carry him in the carrier if you want,” Gaku offered, watching the wind softly blow around the two curls on the top of Sei’s head.  
“That’s alright, dear, he will be okay in the stroller for now. Besides, we are here to celebrate your birthday, so you shouldn’t have to lift a finger.” Tsumugi got out of the limo with the aid of Gaku’s arm.  
“Even though my actual birthday isn’t until a couple days…”  
“Is that the Yaotome baby!?” a man’s voice rang out in the near distance.  
“Ah, Momo-san!” Gaku turned and saw Re:Vale, their manager, and Banri walking over from the white limo parked nearby.  
“Momo-kun, you might want to keep it down. Sei looks to be asleep still. Oh, President, allow me to help you with that stroller!” Banri immediately left Re:Vale’s side and went to Otoharu.  
“Aww, I was hoping I could hold the baby!” Momo pouted.  
“Maybe after he wakes up, Momo-san,” Tsumugi assured. “I hope your drive here went smoothly.”  
“I slept the whole way here,” Yuki said with a hint of sleep still in his voice.  
“Just like Sei did,” Gaku said with a chuckle.  
“It seems everyone is here now. Perhaps we should all walk to the entrance together now,” Rinto suggested while trying to sneak a peek of Sei’s sleeping face.  
“Good idea, Okazaki-san, let me just put Sei-chan in his stroller and then we can go.” Tsumugi carefully lowered Sei into the stroller, barely disturbing him. With a nod of success, she led the way to the entrance. 

The nine of them met up with the rest of the idols, who were all still exchanging pleasantries or sharing small talk. As soon as they arrived, all conversation died and nearly everyone’s attention was turned to little sleeping Sei. All of IDOLiSH7 breathed a sigh and said, “So cute~!!”  
Ryuunosuke and Tenn just looked at their honorary nephew with pride and greeted Gaku, who always looked his tallest and most proud whenever his son was being adored by others.  
“OH!” Nagi managed in a slightly quieter than normal voice, “Sei-tan is the cutest when he sleeps! He looks as radiant as Manager does!”  
“Aww, so adorable!” Mitsuki breathed. “Every time I see him, he makes me think of what Iori used to look like as a baby! He was super cute too!”  
“Nii-san, please!” Iori began to turn red.  
“Tch, I dunno what the big deal is about babies,” Haruka whispered to Torao and Minami, who were hanging back as Touma joined in on the idle baby chatter.  
“You can blame the human instinct to survive and provide for the next generation,” Minami said coolly.  
“Alright, that’s enough, everyone,” Sousuke sternly said as he stepped forward next to the stroller. “Standing outside the entrance for this long is useless.”  
“Ah, right, why don’t we all go get our tickets?” Tsumugi began to lead the way once again, pushing the stroller towards the ticket booth. 

“Re:Vale, TRIGGER, IDOLiSH7, ZOOL, and company! Thank you for your performances at and attendance to BandnamcoLand’s 25th anniversary gala last weekend! Please, enjoy this exclusive free day to its fullest! Feel free to go anywhere in the park as you would on any normal operating day. Maps of the park are located here, and never hesitate to ask an employee for any assistance if need arises,” the park attendant warmly let everyone through.  
“Well then, I’m off to go pay my regards to the president of Bandnamco,” Sousuke began to walk off.  
“Tch, leaving to go make face already,” Gaku grumbled. Tsumugi patted his arm to try to placate him.  
“I’ll meet up with you later, son, goodbye for now. Ah, and don’t take the boy on any rides a three year old shouldn’t. Let’s go, Anesagi.”  
“Perhaps I should go say thank you to him as well, wouldn’t want him to think Takanashi Productions isn’t as grateful as Yaotome Productions. I’ll make sure that man meets back up with you at some point too,” Otoharu gave Tsumugi a smile and briskly followed Sousuke and Anesagi.  
“I’ll be taking my leave too,” Minami said as he began to walk away from the rest of ZOOL. “The only way we were able to get Ryo-san to let us come here was if I promised to socialize with some higher-ups.”  
“Minami!” Touma called, “What about us!?”  
“Just do whatever you would like. I’m sure we’ll run into each other at some point.”  
“Perhaps I should go too then,” Rinto thought aloud, “since my brother isn’t sure if he can make it. Will you two be alright on your own?”  
“Of course, Okarin!” Momo assured, “Yuki and I will be with Ban-san and—”  
“Hold on a sec’!” Tamaki cut in. “Who said you could take our Ban-chan with you?”  
“Because we said he’d come along with us first!” Momo rebutted.  
“Tamaki-kun, please, don’t fight with our senpai,” Sougo put a hand on Tamaki’s shoulder.  
“But Sou-chan!!”  
Banri stepped forward. “We have the whole day ahead of us. Why don’t I spend part of the day with Re:Vale and then the rest with MEZZO? Besides, I want to try to get Yuki to go on at least one rollercoaster.”  
“I hope you aren’t looking forward to seeing that happen, because I have no intentions of laying one finger on a rollercoaster,” Yuki said adamantly.  
“Ehhhh, I guess that’s fine.” Tamaki grumbled, then declared, “But Ban-chan, you better meet up with us to see the Purin Parade! And I’ll need your help to win at the arcade games! I wanna win the biggest Ousama Purin they’ve got! C’mon, Sou-chan, you too, Isumin! We’re going to Ousama Purin Land!”  
“You’d never know that kid was a highschool graduate,” Yamato muttered with a chuckle as he watched Tamaki drag Haruka by the wrist alongside Sougo and Banri.  
“Yamato! Mitsuki! You both must go with me to Cocona Land immediately!” Nagi urgently grabbed Mitsuki’s hand and Yamato’s wrist and began dragging them away.  
“Now hold on a sec! I wanted to find a beer!” Yamato tried to pry Nagi away but was unsuccessful.  
“Tenn-nii! What do you want to do? I want to explore everything!”  
“Fufufu, I know this park like the back of my hand, I can give you a tour. They’ve just recently changed things in Adventuring Land, so we can start there.”  
“It’s true, Tenn has been here so often over the years that they tried to offer him a job back when TRIGGER was struggling,” Ryuunosuke recounted. “I’m so glad Tenn never had to accept that job and that we were able to eventually get back on our feet enough to rejoin Yaotome Productions.”  
“Yes, we all are incredibly glad for that,” Gaku said.  
“Say, Adventuring Land was where I wanted to check out first,” Touma spoke up. “Mind if I tag along, Nanase?”  
“Of course you can come along!” Riku exclaimed then pulled at the hem of Iori’s sleeve. “Come with us, Iori! Then you can get a tour from Tenn-nii too!”  
“I suppose I will come with you, since Nii-san was dragged off already. I’ll make sure we get back in time to meet up for dinner, Manager.”  
“Tsunashi,” Torao caught his attention by stepping right in front of him. “Let me show you that Midou’s Haunted Hotel attraction. I can point out all the accuracies and inaccuracies to my father’s actual hotels. And maybe we can console some scared ladies who are on their way out of it.”  
“Ah, a-alright, Midou-san, I don’t know about that last part, but I’d like to see what that attraction is like.”

“Wow, everyone went their separate ways pretty quickly,” Gaku said as he watched as everyone else dispersed.  
“It’ll be fun to be just the three of us for a little while,” Tsumugi said with a loving smile.  
Gaku returned the gaze and kissed her forehead. “Yeah, it will be, especially since this is Sei-chan’s first amusement park. I want to see him have as much fun as possible.”  
As if he could sense his parents were sharing a tender moment and talking about him, little Sei finally began to stir. He stretched his arms out with a yawn and allowed his eyes to slowly open.  
“Good morning, Sei-chan!” Tsumugi cooed, tickling his tummy.  
“Mama!” Sei squealed with a giggle and grabbed at her hand.  
“Morning, Sei-chan,” Gaku said and ruffled Sei’s silvery hair. “We’re at the park now. Wanna get up and look around?”  
“Papa’s tolders!” Sei held his arms out in front of himself.  
“Wha--?” Gaku tilted his head.  
“Oh, you want to have a ride on Papa’s shoulders?” Tsumugi translated as she undid the stroller restraints.  
“Right, of course, that’s what he meant,” Gaku chuckled as Tsumugi lifted Sei out of the stroller and passed him into Gaku’s arms. “Up we go!” he exclaimed as he hoisted his son over his head and onto his shoulders. “Gah! Try to hold onto my hair a little looser, will ya?”  
“Here, why don’t you stand over here and I’ll take your picture in front of the sign. Say Kinako!” Tsumugi took the photo and giggled. “Perfect!”  
“Right, now let’s go find some rides Sei can go on.” While holding onto Sei’s feet with one hand, Gaku opened the park map with his other. “We should go to the Slippery Soba Slides first.”  
“Those slides are a little big and fast, aren’t they? Maybe we should start with something slower to get Sei-chan used to it. Like the Swings of Tokyo.”  
“I guess that’s true, we wouldn’t want Sei-chan to get scared.”

“Big Sing!” Sei outstretched his arms and exclaimed when they arrived at the Swings of Tokyo.  
“Mitsuki has been babysitting him too much, hasn’t he?” Gaku said, feigning indignance.  
“Smile for the camera!” Tsumugi took a selfie of the three of them in front of the attraction.  
They walked through the empty line and right up to the front. The attendant looked up from her magazine with a starry-eyed expression when she realized who was in front of her and practically shouted, “Yaotome Gaku-san, f-from TRIGGER! So you really are here! And with your family! It’s an honor to assist you, please come through!” She opened the gate with a slight bow. “Oh, but, um, I am so sorry, Yaotome Gaku-san, but I’m not sure if you will fit in the swings. There’s a weight limit of 60 kilograms and a height limit of 165 centimeters.”  
“Ah, I see, I guess just you will have to ride with him, Tsumugi. Maybe the next ride. Alright, Sei, time to go for a ride with Mama!” Gaku unlatched Sei’s fingers from his hair and lifted him off of his shoulders. “I’ll take some pictures from over there,” he said as he helped sit Sei on one of the swings and attach the safety straps. After Sei was safely strapped in, Tsumugi handed Gaku her purse and got in the swing directly behind her son.  
“Get ready, Sei-chan! We are going for a ride!” Tsumugi called out as the attendant started up the attraction. The swings lifted only a foot higher off the ground, then slowly began to travel in a circle. Over time the swings picked up speed, though not nearly as fast as the adult version would go. Sei was slightly scared at first, but it didn’t take long for him to start giggling as the wind tousled through his hair. Gaku trotted along the perimeter of the ride, making sure to get as many photos of his wife and son as he could before the ride ended.  
“Wasn’t that fun?” Tsumugi asked as she was about to get out of the swing.  
“ ‘gain! ‘gain!” Sei kicked his little legs and laughed. “Mama, ‘gain!”  
“I guess that’s a yes!” Gaku laughed, wiping a little sweat off the side of his face. “I’m gonna watch from the shade this time. It’s getting a bit hot out here.”  
After another two goes on the swings, a dizzy Tsumugi suggested Gaku take Sei on the Caterpillar Coaster while she took a break. Gaku was able to sit in the coaster with Sei in his lap. Tsumugi couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of Gaku wedged into the little cart designed for children. Sei’s gleeful smile as the coaster began to move made it even more difficult for her. She took a video of their second time around and sent it to Gaku’s mother, who couldn’t make it due to soba shop work.  
“Let’s go on the Soba Slides now, that’s something all three of us can do together,” Gaku suggested.  
“Good idea! Oh, I think I still have his little soba hat and uniform in his backpack! We should change him into it and take his photo in front of the sign!”  
As soon as Sei saw his soba uniform he ran up to Tsumugi and reached up. “Soba time, soba time!”  
After sharing a laugh, Gaku and Tsumugi helped Sei change into his uniform. Then they took him up to the Soba Swings sign and took his picture.  
There were two sizes of slides, one much taller for adults and another smaller, kid-friendly slide. A couple other celebrity families were in line for the smaller slide, so they had to climb the stairs and then wait their turn. To make the time go by, Gaku and Tsumugi sang TRIGGER songs with Sei. Sei was allowed to sing Gaku’s lines, while Gaku sang Ryuu’s and Tsumugi sang Tenn’s. Once it was their turn, they sat on the soba-patterned mat, Sei on Tsumugi’s lap and Tsumugi in front of Gaku between his legs.  
“Now, be sure to keep still in Mama’s lap,” Tsumugi advised.  
“And here we go!~~” Gaku pushed off and sent them cruising down the slide.

“Gaku, you’re soaked with sweat! Are you getting tired from giving Sei-chan a piggy-back ride every time we climb the stairs? I can carry him this time.” Tsumugi pulled a hand towel out of her purse and dabbed the back of Gaku’s neck.  
“Ah, I’m fine, really. It’s just hot out here.”  
“Both you and Sei-chan are getting pretty pink in the face. Maybe we should take a break in the shade and reapply sunscreen. He should put on something more breathable too.”  
As Gaku helped put more sunscreen on the back of Tsumugi’s neck while she finished helping Sei back into his original outfit, Sei pointed and exclaimed, “Jiji! Ji!” Otoharu and Sousuke were approaching.  
“Gaku. Let me have Sei,” Sousuke demanded, his face serious.  
“Ehhh?? What do you mean?! Why do you want him?” Gaku reflexively clutched the bottle of sunscreen, accidentally squirting some out into the dirt.  
“We need to borrow him, actually,” Otoharu clarified. “You see, we ran into Mr. Shimooka and his family, and he is claiming his grand nephew is the cutest baby he’s seen.”  
“So I need to prove how wrong he is and show him Sei in person,” Sousuke crossed his arms. “Even that photo of him in that penguin costume didn’t convince the fool.”  
“It’ll give you two a chance to enjoy yourselves and go on some rides you wouldn’t be able to with little Sei-Chan,” Otoharu coaxed while tickling Sei. “I’m sure you’re tired of going down the same slide so many times.”  
“That would be nice...” Tsumugi looked to Gaku.  
Gaku let out an exasperated sigh and relented. “Fine, you can take him, but bring him back eventually. And send a few Rabbit Chats every now and then to let us know he’s alright.”  
“Of course! He will be in good hands.” Otoharu gladly swung Sei up in the air and placed him in his stroller. “You’re going to come have fun with your Jiji, Ji, and Anesagi-san now!”  
“Be a good boy for your Ji and Jiji, Sei-chan! We’ll see you later, okay? Here’s his bag, Yaotome-san. Bye bye!” Tsumugi waved to Sei and smiled warmly as she handed Sousuke a furry backpack with a bear face on the front. Sousuke stiffly grabbed the backpack by the top handle.  
“ ‘Kay, Mama! Bye bye!” Sei waved back as Otoharu began to turn the stroller around and head back with Sousuke.  
“I hope they don’t get in too much trouble,” Tsumugi said with a sigh.  
“Let’s just make the most of our time together,” Gaku whispered near her ear before kissing her cheek.


	2. Show me what you've got!

“Alright, now, before we find Shimooka. Let’s make sure Sei is looking his best. Your daughter usually packs a hat or something.” Sousuke began rummaging through Sei’s backpack until he happened upon a light pink baseball cap with floppy pink bunny ears attached to the sides. “Wha—?”  
“Oh, it’s the Kinako cap Banri made for Sei-chan’s third birthday!” Otoharu exclaimed.   
Sei perked up and looked around. “Kinako? Where, Jiji?”  
“She’s at the office today, but your Ji has your Kinako hat for you! Can you be a good boy and wear it?”  
“Ehhhh, no hat!” Sei pressed his head into the back of the stroller and put his arms on his head so that Sousuke couldn’t put it on him.   
“Sei. Behave.” Sousuke flashed a stern look, but when he saw tiny tears forming in Sei’s eyes, he backed down and tried a forced smile. “If you wear the hat for a short while, I’ll buy you an ice cream. Do we have a deal?”  
“You can’t make a business transaction with a three year old, Yaotome.”  
“Everyone has a price, Takanashi,” Sousuke glowered and then turned back to Sei. “Wear the hat, and you get ice cream. Okay?”  
“Okay~” Sei relaxed and allowed Sousuke to put the Kinako cap on his head. As soon as the hat was on, his face drew up into an expression that could only be described as passive-aggressive friendliness shrouded by dark ill-intent.   
Sousuke took a small step back. “I do wish my son wouldn’t have picked someone related to you to be his wife. That look of yours has infected my grandson.”  
“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Otoharu began pushing the stroller again. “Anyways, let’s go find Shimooka so we can lay this debate to rest.”  
The two men found Anesagi, who had been left behind to keep Shimooka and his family in conversation until they could return, by a yakiniku stand. “Ah, President, there you are! Oh, and look, you ran into Sei-tan!”  
“Sagi!” Sei reached his arms out and yelled.  
“Look at you in that adorable little bunny cap! I could just eat you up!” Anesagi bent down and nommed on Sei’s cheek, making him squeal. “Ahem, excuse me. He’s just so precious that I couldn’t help myself.” Anesagi stood up straight and stepped back.   
“So, this is little Sei-chan!” Shimooka bent down and peered from behind his sunglasses at Sei. “Hmmm, that hat definitely makes him cute. And that laugh just now was something.”  
Sei fussed with the hat and yanked it off by one of the ears, then used it to cover his face.  
“You should see him when he smiles,” Otoharu added with a proud grin.   
“Or hear him sing. I could make him into the youngest solo idol act with his talent,” Sousuke said with a smug grin.  
“Now, now, what if Sei-chan wants to join under Takanashi Productions?” Otoharu said with that look.  
“Not if I have any say in it!” Sousuke quickly responded. “Yaotome Pro—”  
“Ji…” Sei softly said.  
Sousuke stopped dead in his tracks and looked at his grandson. “...Yes?”  
Sei returned the hat half-cocked onto his head. “Ice cream time!”   
“Oh, uh, right, we can get some ice cream,” Sousuke adjusted the hat and patted Sei’s head.  
“Now that’s a child who knows what he wants, just like his grandfather!” Mr. Shimooka laughed. “There’s an ice cream stand right over there. Let’s see if my grand nephew looks cuter eating ice cream. All of you, my treat!”  
“In that case, I’ll get a banana split, if you would be so kind,” Anesagi said.  
“None for me, but thank you,” Sousuke replied, “Ice cream is too sweet for me.”  
“Yes, ice cream would clash with your personality,” Otoharu nodded.  
“What is that supposed to mean, Takanashi?”  
“I think you know exactly what that means. Now then, Sei-chan, what kind of ice cream do you want?”  
Sei pointed at the picture of a bunny-shaped chocolate dipped ice cream. “Kinako!”  
“That’s what I was thinking of getting too!” Otoharu high-fived his grandson.  
“Alright then, two Usagi Dips, two deluxe cones, and one banana split,” Shimooka ordered from the stand. They received their ice cream and joined the rest of Shimooka’s family.  
“Sei-chan, say hello to Mr. Shimooka’s grand-nephew, Kousuke-chan” Otoharu guided Sei out from behind his leg and gently pushed him forward.   
“Hi,” Sei quietly said with a wave.   
Kousuke held up his ice cream cone and pointed at Sei’s. “Ice cream! Cone and bunny!”  
Sei looked from Kousuke’s ice cream to his own and smiled. “Kinako bunny!” He took a gentle bite out of one of the ears and did a little happy dance. Kousuke took a bite of his and did the same dance. Then he took another bite and did a difference dance. Sei copied, and the two went back and forth, taking bites of their ice cream and copying each other’s dances.   
“Sei-chan is pretty good at dancing for his age,” Shimooka said, half disheartened. “My nephew’s having trouble keeping up.”  
“He watches TRIGGER’s dance practice at least twice a week,” Sousuke beamed.   
“And Tamaki-kun has been helping him learn IDOLiSH7 moves too,” Otoharu added. “Sei-chan, do the MONSTER GENERATiON dance next! JUMP!”  
After the next bite, Sei shouted “High!” and jumped, throwing his fist into the air. “JUMP! High!” with another jump and fist pump. Then he sang, “Asenai” and did a fast salute. Then with a clumsy spin and pounding his fist into the dirt, he finished with, “ ‘eneration wo kimi to~~!” as he slowly stood back up and raised his hand like a make-believe gun. Kousuke looked wide-eyed and tried his best to mimic what he just saw.   
Mr. Shimooka couldn’t help but chuckle. “Alright, I’ll have to hand it to you both, your grandson is adorable. And now I need to go convince my niece to put her son in dance lessons.”  
Sousuke let out a rare chuckle of satisfaction and then walked over to Anesagi and quietly asked. “Did you get that on film?”  
“President, I never stopped filming little Sei-tan from the moment he started dancing.”  
“Good, send it to my Rabbit Chat.”  
“Already done.”  
“Uh oh!” Sei exclaimed. “Jiji!, stain!” He pointed at the last bite of his melty chocolate and ice cream that had fallen off the stick and onto his T-shirt.   
“Oh my! That is a big stain! Here, let’s wipe it with a napkin,” Otoharu began trying to wipe it off.   
“Anesagi, why don’t you take him around to try to find him a new shirt,” Sousuke passed a 1,000 yen bill to Anesagi. “I’m sure there’s some gift shop or something around here. Besides, I want to talk business with Mr. Shimooka now.”  
“Yes, sir! Come on, Sei-tan, let’s go find you a new shirt so you don’t have to walk around in something stained!” Anesagi took control of the stroller after Sei climbed in and began pushing him away. “Heaven knows your grandfathers can’t style you if their lives depended on it. Now let’s see what we can find you.” Anesagi, purely on coincidence, took the path that would lead them towards Magical Cocona Land. They bypassed at least two stores and entered the land. “Surely he’s—there’s—a store around here,” Anesagi loudly feigned frustration.  
“OH! JESUS!” echoed from a few yards ahead, from in front of the castle replica from Magical Cocona.  
“I knew it” Anesagi power walked with Sei’s stroller towards the voice.  
“They added new tapestries from important scenes from the newest season of the anime! Yamato! Take my picture while I stand next to them!” Nagi stood between two large tapestries that were hung in an archway of the castle and did a Cocona pose. After taking an extended sigh, Yamato took his picture.  
“Nagi,” Mitsuki groaned. “Can we at least go on some rides we wanna try now? All you’ve done is made us take pictures with you and explore and go on the Cocona Express.”  
“Soon, Mitsuki! After we explore the gift shop! OH! Look over there!” Nagi pointed beyond Mitsuki’s head .  
“Eh?” Mitsuki turned around. “Ahh, TRIGGER’s manager! And Sei-chan! What are you doing here?”  
“So this is where the Pythagoras Trio decides to spend their day!” Anesagi said teasingly. “President sent me on a mission to find Sei-tan a new shirt.”  
“Nagi-oji! Mits’ki-oji! Yama-oji!” Sei bounced a little in his stroller as he called their names.  
“Aw, the kid’s so happy to see us,” Yamato bent down and ruffled Sei’s hair, making his two hair whorls even curlier.   
“Why don’t we help you find a shirt in the Cocona shop!” Nagi suggested. “A fine lady such as yourself shouldn’t have to go on a mission alone.”  
“Ahem,” Anegasi coughed into her hand. “I could find it on my own. But, since you offered, we might as well.”   
The five of them found the gift shop and quickly lost Nagi to the park exclusive section of Cocona merchandise. They found the children’s clothing and began their hunt.  
“Sagi, look!” Sei pointed at a tiger costume on display.  
“Ooh, do you want to be a tiger? But what about this adorable hedgehog costume?”  
“Sei-chan, look!” Mitsuki held up a gray rabbit onesie. “It even has a fluffy tail on the back!”  
“But he has one already, doesn’t he?” Yamato asked as he looked through a rack of t-shirts.  
“That was a blue bunny, and it didn’t have a nice tail like this,” Mitsuki retorted.  
“The kid would be more comfortable in this BandnamcoLand shirt,” Yamato held up a small tank top with the park map on it.  
“If you would like,” a store employee walking past offered, “you can have him try everything on. That might help you narrow down what he wants. We have a fitting room right over there by the Cocona park exclusives wall.”  
“Ah, perfect! Sei-tan, let’s put on a fashion show!” Anesagi exclaimed and began gathering all of the potential outfits. They made their way to the fitting room just as Nagi was finishing his purchase of Cocona goods.  
“What fun!” Nagi clasped his hands together. “I know the perfect costume for Sei-tan to try on!” He ran back to the Cocona wall and picked out a prince costume. “Save it for last. It will be a most dazzling finale outfit!”  
“Whatever you think,” Mitsuki chuckled and went into the fitting room with Sei to help him get changed into each of the different costumes. Sei complied with trying on all of the outfits, except for the bear ears Mitsuki tried to pair with the BandnamcoLand shirt. He got a kick out of all the cheering and clapping his audience gave him and even mimicked a few of the poses Nagi and Anesagi suggested he do while Yamato took pictures.  
The last costume was the prince costume. “Like Papa!” Sei said when he saw himself in the mirror.   
“Hey, you’re right! It looks almost just like that one MV outfit! Let’s show everyone.” Mitsuki began to introduce, “And now, the grand finale look, DIAMOND FUSION Sei!” The fitting room curtain flung open, and Sei came running out, then stopped in the middle of the group and held a pose with his left hand supporting his finger gun made from his right hand, just like Gaku’s last pose in the DIAMOND FUSION music video.  
“OHH! He looks just like Gaku-shi!” Nagi exclaimed.  
“I think we found our winning costume,” Yamato declared as he took photos from several angles.  
“It’s perfect for him!” Anesagi cooed.  
“Right?!” Mitsuki laughed. “He loves it, don’t you Sei-chan?”  
“Yeah!” Sei jumped up and down.  
“Alright, we’ll buy you that costume,” Mitsuki said with a grin. “Hey, I’ve got a great idea! Why don’t we save that costume as a surprise for Gaku’s actual birthday! He’d love it!”  
“Surprise, surprise!” Sei bounced once again.  
“Ahaha, okay then,” Anesagi confirmed. “We’ll get you the tank top to wear for the rest of the day, and then save the costume for Gaku’s birthday.”  
“I bet Manager will love that costume too,” Yamato commented as Mitsuki helped Sei get changed.  
Anesagi then bought the tank top and prince costume with the money Sousuke had provided. “And now that Sei’s outfit is settled, I’m gonna head out.” Yamato began to make his way for the exit.  
“NO! Yamato!” Nagi pleaded. “We still need to go to the Cocona’s MagiRestaurant and Cafe! I must try the newest Cocona-themed dishes! Mitsuki, don’t leave too!”  
“Look, Nagi, we’ve spent almost the last couple hours doing what you want,” Yamato responded. “It’s time we did some stuff we want to do.”  
Not making direct eye contact with Nagi, Anesagi spoke up, “If Yamato and Mitsuki take Sei-tan back to President, I guess I can go with you. I’m hungry now anyways.”  
“YES! A meal with a beautiful lady always makes the food taste better!” Nagi’s mood shifted back to his usual energy.  
“Perfect, I’ll take the stroller,” Yamato volunteered.   
“C’mon, Sei, I’ll give you a piggy-back ride, just like how I used to give Iori!” Mitsuki squatted down so that Sei could grab onto his shoulders. “We’ll see you later, maybe at dinner!” Then he began jogging to catch up with Yamato, who was already out the door of the shop.  
“I guess it’s just you and me,” Anesagi said while brushing a strand of pink hair back.  
“Yes, and we will have a marvelous time!” Nagi happily said.


	3. Two Men and a Baby

“Uggg~!” Yamato shuddered, “Thank goodness we are done with Cocona Land. I can’t get out of here fast enough.”  
“It wasn’t so bad,” Mitsuki said once he caught up with him. He bounced as he walked to make Sei laugh as he clung onto his back. “I think we turn right up here to get out.”  
“Did you look at the map to make sure?”  
Mitsuki paused, then hung his head. “I...don’t have a copy of the map.”   
“What?!”  
“Nagi grabbed me too quickly! I couldn’t help it!”  
“Well then if you think it’s a right turn up here, then we are going straight.”  
“Why? Don’t you trust my memory? I remember passing that silly topiary forest thing but not that giant roller coaster ahead of us in the distance.”  
“We wouldn’t have even been facing that coaster if we were coming from this direction. I would trust Sei to give better directions than you anyways. Now let’s hurry up. I need a beer.”  
“Humph, fine. But if you’re wrong, then you owe me a beer at dinner.”  
“Sure, sure,” Yamato waved his hand as they continued walking straight.

Fifteen minutes of aimless wandering later, Yamato approached the employee in charge of the exit of the Witch’s Clutches Coaster. “Excuse me, but how in the world do we leave this place?”  
“Ah, here, I can show you on this copy of the park map,” the employee pulled a map out from behind his station and opened it up for Yamato and Mitsuki to see. “We are here. You need to take a left here, then walk straight down, all the way to here, where you will make another left and walk through the Floral Fairy Topiary display. Keep going straight, and you’ll see the exit of Magical Cocona Land to your right. Feel free to take this copy of the map.”  
Mitsuki, not saying a word, turned and smiled smugly at Yamato.  
“Thanks,” Yamato said as he took the map and turned away. “I know, I know,” he grimaced at Mitsuki.  
“Wow, Ban-san! You were right! That was the most epic roller coaster we have been on yet!”  
“Indeed, I told you it was intense. No other coaster here has a double loop.”  
Banri and Momo, each with an arm hooked under Yuki’s arms as he staggered between them, exited the ride just as Yamato and Mitsuki were going to walk away.  
“Momo-san!” Mitsuki jogged over, Sei bouncing on his back with every step. “Yuki-san! Banri, what happened to him?”  
“Ah, Mitsuki! And Yaotome baby!” Momo said excitedly as he adjusted his arm under Yuki. “We just went on the ride of our life!”  
“These two...idiots…” Yuki struggled to hoarsely say, “Put a couple drinks in me...made me think this was going to be a relaxing ride…”  
“How could you think the Witch’s Clutches Coaster was going to be a fun time?” Yamato asked incredulously.  
“Yuki!” Momo cried in an injured tone. “We weren’t that mean!”   
“After all, we let him choose from the map which ride we’d try next,” Banri explained. “He happened to pick the biggest roller coaster here. When I tried insisting he stay behind and rest, he got mad and accused Momo of abandoning him to be with me.”  
“And I just couldn’t let my Darling think that, so all three of us went on.”  
“Now you owe me a relaxing ride,” Yuki said as he regained his own footing and shook off Momo and Banri.  
“The ride on the train from Cocona Land to Fantastic Land is pretty relaxing,” Mitsuki thought aloud.  
“Train?” Sei patted the top of Mistuki’s head. “I wanna train ride!”  
“But we were supposed to take you back to your Ji...wait, we don’t even know where he is!”  
Sei’s excited expression transformed into a misty-eyed pout. He softly began to whine.  
“Aww~, Mitsuki, look at that face!” Momo almost started tearing up himself. “We’ll take him for a train ride, won’t we, Yuki, Ban-san?”  
“As long as we take it easy the rest of the day, I don’t care what we do,” Yuki weakly replied.  
“You two go on ahead,” Banri said as he put his phone in his pocket. “MEZZO just sent me a Rabbit Chat telling me to go meet up with them.” Before Momo or Yuki could even make one sound of protest Banri began hustling away, waving a quick goodbye at Sei and Mitsuki as he passed. “I’ll see you all later!”  
Yamato pushed the stroller towards Yuki. “It sounds like Re:Vale will be alright with handling Sei at this point,” Yamato took Sei off of Mitsuki and passed him over to Momo. “Just make sure he makes it back to our manager or President Takanashi. Come on, Mitsuki, let’s head out of here. Have fun, guys!”  
“Ah, alright, thanks, Re:Vale! Sei-chan, be a good boy for Momo-san and Yuki-san!”  
“Bye bye!” Sei waved while Momo held him from under his armpits and swung him side to side.  
“Looks like it’s just you, me, and Yuki, Sei!” Momo declared. “It’s like we’re are own little family! Let’s go find that train! Yuki, you can grab the map from my back pocket and find it on the map.”  
“Alright, as long as Sei helps me spot it.” Yuki pulled the map from Momo’s pocket and stood right next to him so that Sei could see it too.   
“Right there!” Sei pointed to the train symbol on the map.  
“What a smart boy,” Yuki cooed.  
“Yuki praising a child makes him sound like such an ikemen!” Momo lovingly remarked.  
“So if we go off in this direction, we should find the train,” Yuki grabbed the stroller and led the way.   
“Yuki strongly pushing a stroller...so ikemen! Say, Yuki, maybe we should get our own baby! I bet the fans would get a kick out of a Re:Vale baby.”  
Yuki looked horrified. “Not any chance.”  
“We could borrow Sei for one of our shows and pass him off as ours! He’s got silvery blonde hair like you, and his eyes are almost my color, just a little more orange-ish like Manekko-chan’s.”  
“You are aware of how babies are made, aren’t you?”   
“But Darling!” Momo tried to insist.  
“Wanna walk!” Sei interrupted and squirmed to try to get down.  
“Ah, sure, Sei! But if I’m gonna put you down, you’re gonna have to race me!” He set him down next to him. “Ready…”  
Sei continued, “Set…”  
And Yuki finished, “Go!”  
Momo set out at a shuffle pace, letting Sei dash ahead. “Gahhh~~!! You’re always so fast, Sei! I’ll never beat you!” He dramatically shook his fist in the air.   
“Momo. You might want to go get him now. He’s turning the wrong way,” Yuki covered his mouth with the back of his hand and snickered as he watched Momo almost trip as he broke into an actual run to catch up with Sei. When Momo caught up, he scooped Sei up and twirled around with him a couple times. He set him back on the ground and held his hand. Once Yuki joined them, they continued walking.  
After a little while, Sei announced, “Look! The train!” He started trying to run ahead, so Momo kept pace. They got to the depot and walked up to the boarding line. The employee, after composing herself at the sight of Re:Vale, opened the gate to let them get into the train car. Yuki sat down first, then helped Sei climb up and sit next to him, and Momo sat next to Sei.   
“Please remain in the train car at all times, and be sure to wear the seat belts until the train has stopped at the next depot. The train departs in five minutes. Enjoy your scenic ride as you leave the world of Magical Cocona and enter the festive Fantastic Land!” the employee finished her lines and shut the train car door.   
Momo proceeded to take multiple selfies of the three of them as the train finally began to move. He chattered on with Sei, each pointing out whatever they could see out the window. Yuki would occasionally join in and add what he saw out his window or would nod in agreement to what Sei pointed at. A few minutes into the ride however, Yuki dozed off, his hand propping his head up.   
“Kukuku,” Momo shared a sneaky grin with Sei. “Let’s see if we can put this bear ears headband on Yuki.” Momo slipped off his seat-belt and got up. “Don’t get distracted by his handsomeness, just commit to the prank,” he whispered to himself. He held in a deep breath and slowly inched closer to Yuki’s face. Carefully he stretched open the headband and lowered it onto Yuki’s head. He gingerly let each side of it go, stifled a laugh, and backed up. He gave Sei a double thumbs up, which Sei happily returned, and then pulled out his phone. He took several photos of him and selfies and was about to sit back down.  
“Momo, you’re being too quiet,” Yuki said flatly without moving a muscle.  
“Gyaahh!!” Momo fumbled and dropped his phone, which sent Sei into a giggle fit.   
Yuki stirred and straightened up. He studied Momo’s face and then turned to Sei who was just beginning to settle down. “And just what is so funny?” Yuki asked him plainly. That sent Sei back into another giggle fit, which in turn made Momo start laughing. Yuki couldn’t help but smile and shake his head. “Alright, whatever headband this is, it has had its time; off it goes.” Yuki took it off, and with ninja-like precision, he put the ears on Sei. “Momo! Quick, take a photo!”  
Momo fumbled with his phone once again, but managed to get a hold of it and take a burst of photos before Sei ripped them off. “I got a couple good ones!”  
“Well done, Darling. Let’s send one to Gaku-kun.”  
“Good idea! Let’s send this one. Sei looks super cute! Aaaand sent! Oh, looks like we’re here!” Momo quickly sat down as the train began to slow.  
“Welcome to Fantastic Land! Please carefully exit the train car from the right-hand door,” the conductor announced over the loud-speaker. The train had completely stopped, and the other door to the car popped open. Yuki stepped out and then lifted Sei out onto the depot platform. Momo grabbed the stroller and got out as well.  
“So, what should we do now?” Momo asked as he clumsily opened the stroller and helped Sei into it. “Go on any rides?”  
Yuki flashed a death glare and returned to a relaxed expression. “I saw on the map that there is a live show called Martial Arts Medley at the Purin Palace theater. There’s a showing in ten minutes.”  
“That sounds awesome!” Momo cheered. “I bet Sei would like it, so let’s rush and try to make it in time! Hold on, Sei, we’re gonna go fast!” he popped the stroller onto its two back wheels and started running. Yuki sighed but halfheartedly ran after him.  
They made it just in time and got front row seats. Sei refused to sit in his own seat and instead crawled back and forth between Yuki’s and Momo’s laps when he got fidgety. The show was quite captivating for Yuki and Momo, and Sei eventually settled down in Yuki’s lap to watch. The performers did various types of martial arts displays set to songs the entertainers had performed at the anniversary gala. Sei clapped and sang along as best he could when Re:Vale, TRIGGER, IDOLiSH7, and ZOOL songs appeared in the medley.  
“Wasn’t that super fun?” Momo asked as they left the theater.  
“Yeah!” Sei said as he toddled between Yuki and Momo, holding on to their hands.  
“The aerials those Capoeira artists did during 'Dis one.' were quite impressive,” Yuki remarked. “It might be fun if we tried to incorporate them into our next performance.”  
Just then, Rinto came running up to them. “There...you...are!” he panted, pressing his hands onto the top of his knees. “Thank goodness. Yaotome-san sent me to find you after you didn’t answer Gaku-san’s Rabbit Chats.”  
“Ohhh, I didn’t see them since we were in the show!” Momo looked at his notifications. “Eeeh, Gaku-san was getting pretty mad. Okarin, sorry! I’ll let him know everything’s alright, and that we’ll bring Sei back soon.”  
“Good, thank you,” Rinto straightened himself up and held his side.   
“Okarin, here,” Yuki gestured to the stroller parked nearby, “use that to prop yourself up while we walk.”  
“Ah, thank you,” Rinto obliged. They began walking once again, Sei still between Yuki and Momo, and Rinto lagging slightly behind pushing the stroller. Occasionally Sei would jump, allowing Yuki and Momo to swing him forward. They walked casually down the main path, where there were a few families standing around as if they were waiting for something. As they continued, they saw park cast members putting up rope barriers parallel to the road and making sure any bystanders were behind the barrier.   
“Looks like they are preparing for a parade,” Yuki observed.  
“Oooh! I bet Sei would love to watch that! Okarin, can we stop and watch it?”  
“Well, we are supposed to get Sei-chan back to his parents...but I wouldn’t want to make him miss out...alright, let’s go find a good place to watch it towards the beginning of the parade. But then we must remain on task afterwards.”  
They followed the rope barrier, and soon came across more people gathered around. Yuki and Momo waved at a couple of celebrities they knew as they hunted for a good place to wait for the parade.   
“Re:Vale-san!” Mitsuki’s voice broke through the chatter of other guests.   
“Sei-sei!” Tamaki’s voice followed.   
“Eh, Sei, wait!” Momo tried to catch Sei before he ran off, but Sei was too fast.


	4. Life Is like a Box of Purins

“Ta-oji!” Sei called as he ran into the outstretched arms of Tamaki.  
“Oh, there you guys are!” Momo said as he, Yuki, and Rinto caught up. “Sei saw you way before I could. Nice to see you again, Mitsuki. Hi there, Tamaki!”  
Tamaki had let Sei climb onto his back for a piggy-back ride. “Iorin, Isumin, and Ban-chan are here too. We’re gonna watch the parade.”  
“What happened to Sougo? He’s usually chaperoning you. Actually, Iori, you’re usually with Riku,” Yuki commented.  
Iori stepped forward and explained, “Kujou-san took Nanase-san and Inumaru-san to go on a behind-the-scenes tour when I went to the restroom. Since I didn’t have a pass like Kujou-san, I couldn’t rejoin them. I met up with Nii-san at the arcade where he had met up with Yotsuba-san’s group. And Osaka-san was getting a headache from the flashing lights in the arcade. He went to the rest lounge in the other half of the park.”  
Haruka snickered, “How’s it feel to be ditched by Kujou Tenn?”  
“Kujou-san informed me in a Rabbit Chat that he simply did not realize I wasn’t with them when they joined the tour.”  
“Yeah right,” Haruka crossed his arms. “As if he would have really forgotten you when there was only four of you guys. He probably just didn’t want you nannying them anymore.”  
Iori looked shocked and didn’t say anything else.  
*Eien-seiriron bokura ga teigi su~* Rinto pulled out his phone and answered the call. “Oh, Rintaro-ani, you made it here? Wonderful! Yes, I’m with Re:Vale now. Alright, I’ll let them know, and we will be there in about ten minutes.” He ended the call. “Yuki-kun, Momo-kun, my brother just arrived, and he wants us to meet up with him so we can spend the rest of the day at the park together.”  
“Aw, alright, I guess we’ll have to catch the parade when it runs later. Wouldn’t want to keep the big boss waiting! See you guys around, or at dinner! Bye Sei!” Momo waved at everybody.  
Rinto passed the stroller on to Iori. “Make sure Sei-chan finds his way back to his parents, please, and sorry for any inconvenience.”   
“Of course. Please tell Okazaki-san that IDOLiSH7 gives their regards,” Iori said with a small bow.  
Just as Rinto and Re:Vale had walked away, Banri walked up with his hands full of various drinks. “I’m back with the drinks! Eh, was that Re:Vale? Eh, Sei’s here again?”  
“Yep, they dropped him off with us so he could watch the parade,” Tamaki grinned proudly. “I’m gonna let him sit on my shoulders so he can see everything.”  
“Ah! Look!” Mitsuki pointed up the path. Trumpets began to sound as a marching band progressed down the path.   
Tamaki switched Sei from on his back to perched on his shoulders. “Woah!” they said simultaneously when the marchers tossed their batons into the air and caught them.  
“It’s hard to tell which one’s the kid,” Mitsuki whispered to Banri.  
“It is a pretty exciting parade,” Banri replied with a chuckle. “Even Isumi-kun looks a little excited.”  
The parade consisted of many floats, some representing different parts of the park. Other floats sported Purin mascots dressed in costumes worn by the entertainers at the gala and dancing to the coordinating song. Between floats were dancers, ribbon twirlers, and marching bands.  
As the last float went out of sight, Tamaki shouted, “That parade was super cool! But let’s go on some rides now.”  
“Why don’t we give the Happy Pudding Party a try?” Mitsuki suggested. “That’s probably something Sei would like.”   
“Is that the ride that gets you super dizzy?” Haruka inquired.  
“Yep! You sit in a giant pudding cup and spin the wheel in the middle around as fast as you can.”  
“You should all go on the Purin Mountain ride,” Banri said with a smile. “I went on it with Momo-kun, and it was great. I could keep an eye on Sei-chan since I’ve already ridden it.”  
“Sei would probably appreciate the carousel too,” Iori mentioned casually.   
“Nice idea, Iori!” Mitsuki patted him on the back.  
Iori pulled out the map and studied it. “From where we are now, the best order to complete those rides are Purin Mountain, Happy Pudding Party, and lastly the Kawaii Character Carousel. If we just go left up ahead, Purin Mountain will be on our right. You can see the peak of the mountain right over there.”  
“Then let’s get walking!” Mitsuki led the way.  
Once they got to Purin Mountain, Banri found a bench for him and Sei to wait on for the others.  
“Isumin, sit next to me in the front, ‘kay?” Tamaki insisted as the four of them walked through the gate of the ride.  
“Fine, I guess,” he replied.  
“That means we’ll sit next to each other, Iori! After you,” Mitsuki tried to usher Iori in front of him.  
“T-that’s fine, Nii-san, you go first, you’re older after all,” Iori stuttered, resisting Mitsuki’s push.  
“What, are you scared of a little dark roller coaster?” Mitsuki teased. “I’ve heard there’s lights eventually, so you don’t have to be too scared.”  
“Don’t be ridiculous, I am not scared,” Iori coughed and looked down.  
“Mhhhm,” Mitsuki smugly said as he started getting into the second cart of the coaster.  
Iori hesitantly got in next to him and immediately lowered the safety bar as much as it would go. “Yotsuba-san,” he called out. “Make sure your safety bar is secure.”  
“Yeah, Isumin did already,” Tamaki held up a thumbs up from the front cart. “Ooh! We’re movin’! Don’t forget to put your arms up!”  
Iori let out a small yelp as the coaster lurched forward and began sailing down the tracks.  
Many twists, turns, and drops later, the coaster breezed to the end of the line. Tamaki and Mitsuki had big grins on their faces, but Haruka looked miserably queasy. Iori was white-knuckling the safety bar. The four of them got out of the cart and headed for the exit.  
“Isumin, want me to carry you?” Tamaki offered.  
“Just leave me alone,” Haruka muttered as he held on to the wall as he walked.  
Mitsuki ran ahead. “Ah, look! The photo that got taken during that giant drop! Bahaha! Look at our faces! Iori is scared out of his wits! And Haruka-chan looks so dead-faced!”  
“Because I was dying,” Haruka grumbled.   
“Hehe, Mikki looks super excited.”  
“Not as excited as you, Tamaki, your arms are stretched out so much! Let’s get this one.”  
“No way! I look so stupid!” Haruka complained.  
“We really don’t need to get this one, Nii-san,” Iori insisted and tried to step in front of Mitsuki.  
“This one is too good not to get! We’re gonna get it.” Mitsuki reached past him and tapped the print button on the preview screen. The picture printed and he snatched it and ran on ahead before Iori could stop him. Iori sighed and gave up, following the rest of the group.  
“Welcome back!” Banri called when he noticed the four walk out. He had Sei bouncing on his knee. “I hope you all had fun.”  
“It was super fun!” Tamaki exclaimed. “Let’s go find the Happy Pudding Party ride now.”  
“I noticed it just over there when I took Sei for a little stroll. It seats three people per pudding cup.”  
“Cool, I wanna ride with Ban-chan this time, and Mikki. Let’s go, I wanna spin fast!”  
“Alright, then that leaves Sei-chan,” Mitsuki looked over at Iori, “with you and Haruka-chan.”  
“Eh? I don’t wanna ride with a baby,” Haruka pouted.  
“It’s better than riding by yourself, it’d be pretty sad to ride the pudding cups alone,” Tamaki shrugged.  
“Tch, fine, I guess.”  
Everyone got in the ride, and it began. Mitsuki left the wheel turning to Banri and Tamaki since they were both strong enough to get their cup spinning incredibly fast. Iori and Haruka were spinning it very slowly at first, letting Sei try to spin it too.  
“This is boring,” Haruka complained. “Why can’t we spin faster like Yotsuba?”  
“I don’t want to make Sei-chan dizzy, and he looks like he’s having fun.”  
“Are you kidding, he looks bored too! Look, he isn’t even trying to turn the wheel anymore. Hey,” he nudged Sei with his arm, “you wanna go faster, don’t you?”  
“Yeah! Faster!” Sei clapped.  
“See, now, get to spinning.” Haruka put his back into it and got them spinning. Iori relented and joined in when he saw how excited Sei was getting. However, they spun just a little too much, and by the time the ride ended and they were trying to walk, all three of them were stumbling around. Sei was holding on to Iori’s leg for support. Banri was a little dizzy, but Mitsuki and Tamaki were already ready to find the carousel.  
“Iori-kun, if you’re too dizzy, you don’t have to go on the carousel,” Banri offered.  
“No, I’ll be fine. I wouldn’t want to disappoint Sei. I’m sure by the time we walk to the ride, I’ll be alright.”  
After a few minutes of walking they arrived at the Kawaii Characters Carousel. There were many different types of animals on the ride, all painted in bright, cheerful colors. Haruka quickly slumped into the bench seat with piglet statues on either side. Banri chose a pure white stallion.  
“Woah, Banri-san! You look just like a knight on your valiant steed!” Mitsuki breathed as he sat on a pink unicorn.   
“So cool! I’m gonna take a picture of Ban-chan! I bet Momorin and Yukirin will give me lots of pudding for this one!”   
“Which animal do you want to sit on, Yaotome-chan?” Iori asked as he held Sei and walked around the carousel.   
“Kinako!” Sei pointed to a pink rabbit.  
“Ah, it does look like Kinako!” Iori couldn’t help but get excited. “Alright, if this is the one you insist upon, we will ride on the rabbit.” He put Sei on the back of the rabbit and put the belt on him, then sat behind him.  
“I’m gonna take a picture of you and Sei-Sei,” Tamaki snickered. “I bet I can get even more puddings from Gakkun and Manager!”   
“Ah, Yotsuba-san, please!” Iori tried to raise his arm in protest.  
The carousel slowly started to turn, prompting Tamaki to quickly hop onto the back of a dog. After two times around, Haruka began complaining of being bored and hungry.  
“Momo just forwarded me a Rabbit Chat Tsumugi-san sent him, asking us to feed Sei-chan lunch now,” Banri replied. “So we will get something to eat after this. I think I saw a family-style restaurant just outside Ousama Purin Land.   
After the ride was over and Sei waved goodbye to all of the animals they rode, they found the restaurant and got seated right away. The restaurant was decorated with a nautical theme: the wallpaper was sea blue with anchors and ship wheels, the booths were shaped to resemble the bow and stern of ships, and the employees wore sailor uniforms.   
Their waitress swished over in her frilly uniform and pulled out a pen with a large feather on the end and a pad of paper. “Welcome to the Good Ship Purin, my mateys! What may I get you to eat?”  
“I’ll have the 3-person Ousama parfait, and a hamburger,” Tamaki requested.  
“Yotsuba-san, are you aware that they do make a one person parfait? The one you ordered is far too unreasonable for just one person,” Iori protested.  
“I can eat it all though,” Tamaki shrugged. “I’m hungry. Besides, it says on the menu if you finish it in less than an hour you get a free giant Ousama Purin plushie, and I want it.”  
Iori shook his head and sighed. “I would like to order the fish and chips, please.”  
“Surf and turf plate for me,” Haruka ordered next.  
“I’ll have the hamburg steak, please!” Mitsuki requested.  
“And then I’ll have a hamburger too, and he'll have the Usamimi platter,” Banri finished.  
“Alrighty then, we will have all of that ready for you before you can say 'What will we do with a drunken sailor'!” The waitress bowed slightly and flounced off to the kitchen.  
Tamaki’s parfait arrived first with a timer and three spoons. “I won’t need these,” Tamaki said and handed two of the spoons back. He tapped the top of the hour timer and began to dig into the parfait. It was in a bowl larger than Tamaki’s head and was decorated with strawberries, kiwis, and other toppings. Sei was watching wide-eyed as Tamaki ate spoonful after spoonful. Eventually the rest of the food came out, but everyone still watched Tamaki while they ate.  
Fifty-nine minutes later, Tamaki had one bite left. Everyone else was done eating and were now glued to watching Tamaki finish. Iori looked absolutely disgusted and had lost his appetite halfway through his lunch. All the employees were gathered to watch too. Thirty seconds left.  
“You’re gonna have a stomach ache all day now, stupid,” Haruka said as Tamaki slowly put the last spoonful in his mouth. Twenty seconds left.  
Tamaki swallowed hard, tossed the spoon in the empty bowl, and raised his arms high above his head. “I did it!!”  
“With 7 seconds left! Lucky!” Mitsuki started clapping, spurring everyone else to join in. The waitress ran off into the back room and then came back a minute later struggling to carry a four-foot tall stuffed Ousama Purin wrapped in plastic. She carefully set it down in front of their table.  
“Congratulations, sir! You are the first customer ever to single-handedly finish this within the hour time limit! Please, may we take your picture to put on our wall?”  
“Awesome! Sure!” Tamaki looked thrilled. He put Sei on his lap and put up double peace signs as the waitress took his picture. “I’m not hungry for that burger anymore. And I could use a nap now.”  
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to do much else anyways,” Banri said with a chuckle. “Besides, we need to get Sei-chan back to his parents.”  
“Nanase-san!” Iori suddenly called out.  
“Eh? Iori?” Mitsuki looked around and then noticed a person with a mop of red hair peering in the window. “Riku!” He waved at him and gestured for him to come in.  
Riku quickly went to the door and walked in, with Tenn and Touma close at his heels. “Iori, there you are! Hey you guys! I was just saying to Touma that I wondered if we’d ever run into anyone else! Oh, and you’ve got Sei-chan with you!”  
“Tenn-oji! Rikk-oji!” Sei tried to squirm out of Tamaki’s lap, so Tamaki struggled to set him down on the ground. Sei ran up and hugged one of each of Tenn’s and Riku’s legs at the same time.  
“Dawww! It’s good to see you too, Sei-chan!” Riku said with a laugh.  
“Tenn-oji, up, up!”  
“So spoiled, always wanting to be held,” Tenn clicked his tongue while picking him up. “Reminds me of someone else,” he added with a subtle smirk.  
“Who would that be, Tenn-nii?” Riku asked innocently.  
“Oho, you can’t figure it out?” Tenn smirked again.  
“We were just about to bring him back to Tsumugi-san and Gaku-san,” Banri explained.  
“We can do that for you,” Tenn offered. “I doubt Sei is going to accept separating now that I’m holding him. Besides, he’s already starting to fall asleep on my shoulder.”  
“Awww,” Touma couldn’t help but say after seeing Sei’s sleepy face smooshed into Tenn’s shoulder.  
“Tch, such a softy,” Haruka grumbled.  
“Oh, Haru!” Touma finally noticed him. “How’ve you been enjoying the park?”  
“It’s pretty alright. There’s too many dizzy rides though. I’d rather play the arcade games.”  
“Wanna play some more after we go put my Ousama Purin in the van?” Tamaki asked.  
“Yeah, alright.”  
“Mina and Tora are gonna be so happy to hear you’re still having fun with your old high school friends even after graduating,” Touma said like a proud mother.  
“It isn’t like they’re my only friends! And it’s better than you third-wheeling on a set of twins. I don’t know why you’d wanna hang out with Kujou Tenn anyways,” Haruka crossed his arms and indignantly looked away.  
“Kujou-san knows this park really well, so I’ve been able to finally do everything here that I’ve always wanted to see.”  
“And sorry for leaving you behind, Iori!” Riku said while Haruka began bickering with Touma. “We really didn’t realize you had left since you didn’t say you were heading to the bathroom. I got so excited to go behind the scenes and was distracting Tenn-nii with questions.”  
“It is fine, Nanase-san,” Iori said coolly. “At least I found Nii-san and the others.”  
“I’m glad you found us too!” Mitsuki put his arm around his brother’s shoulders. I want to explore the rest of the park with you now.”  
“Alright,” Banri came back from paying the bill. “So from what I am hearing, I am taking Tamaki-kun and Isumi-kun to put Tamaki’s Ousama plushie into the van for safekeeping, Mitsuki and Iori are going off to explore the rest of the park on their own, and Kujou-san, Riku-kun, and Inumaru-san are going to take Sei back to his parents.”  
“Exactly right,” Tenn confirmed.  
“Alright, then I suppose I will see the rest of you at dinner tonight. Goodbye!”  
Everyone shared their goodbyes and went their separate ways.


	5. I want to cherish even the past, the future, everything.

“It’s a shame Sei is napping,” Riku said as he pushed the empty stroller. “I wanted to maybe go on a couple rides with him.”  
“Inumaru Touma,” Tenn requested, trying his best to keep carrying Sei, “please take out my phone and write a Rabbit Chat to Gaku for me.”  
“Oh, okay,” Touma did as he was told. “I’m ready.”  
“‘Gaku. Sei is with me, Riku, and Inumaru Touma now. We took him from Oogami Banri so that we could spend some time with him. If Tsumugi is fine with it, we are taking Sei on a few rides.’ Do I need to repeat that?”  
Touma frantically finished typing. “Ehh, no, I think I got it all. Wanna see?”  
“Yes.” Tenn craned his neck and read when Touma typed. “You forgot a comma in the last sentence. Add one and then you may send it.”  
“Sorry,” Touma rolled his eyes and fixed the message before sending it.  
“Riku, bring the stroller over here. He’s getting heavy.”  
Riku quickly pushed the stroller close to Tenn, and Tenn carefully lowered Sei into it. Sei squirmed and almost woke up, but he settled back down.  
“He responded,” Touma informed and gave Tenn his phone back.  
“He says, ‘Fine. *eyeroll emoji* You have until 2 o’clock. Then you need to bring him back. We will be by the front of the park.’ Generous of him to give us an hour and a half. I thought for certain we would only get an hour,” Tenn remarked as he sent a Purin thumbs-up sticker as his response.  
“Yay!” Riku couldn’t help but jump.  
“Shhh!” Tenn seethed. “If Sei wakes and finds out I’m not holding him anymore, we will have the fury of a Yaotome on our hands!”  
Riki slapped his hands over his mouth and mumbled an apology.  
Touma peered into Sei’s stroller. “I think he’s fine. So, what should we do? We can’t really go on any rides if the kid’s asleep.”  
Tenn put his hand to his chin and ran through the list of attractions in the park in his mind. “We could go on the Purins of the Atlantic. It’s a boat ride, and Sei usually falls asleep on those anyways. Then by the time we are done with that one, it should be enough of a nap for him to wake up refreshed.”  
“Sounds good to me, what about you, Riku?”  
“It’s perfect! Though I kinda wish I could go on another roller coaster. That one that Momo-san sent me a picture from a little while ago looked pretty fun.”  
“The Witch’s Talons is too much for you,” Tenn shook his head decidedly and began leading the way and pushing the stroller. “You almost had an attack after the first coaster we went on. And now that it has become the hottest part of the day, it’ll only be worse for you.”  
“He’s got his inhaler though, right? Doesn’t that stop it?” Touma inquired.  
“Not all the time,” Riku said forlornly. “It’s harder to control it in the summertime.”  
“Man, that’s rough. Well, at least there are plenty of other things to do here. It’s pretty awesome how much we’ve seen already, thanks to Kujou-san.”  
“Yeah, Tenn-nii is awesome! Whoops,” Riku covered his mouth again.  
“Hah...what am I going to do with you,” Tenn shook his head, sneaking a quick smile.  
Once they got to the ride, Tenn scooped up the softly snoring Sei and draped him over his shoulder. Immediately Sei latched his arms around Tenn’s neck. They left the stroller in the waiting area and boarded the ride.  
“He kind of looks like one of those rainforest sloths when he’s wrapped around your neck like that,” Touma chuckled.  
“I’m kind of jealous of Sei-chan,” Riku pouted, “Tenn-nii hardly ever lets me hug him.”  
“That’s because we are not children anymore. And I’ll have you know, you were far more demanding and overbearing as a child than Sei is.”  
“Man, I feel your pain, Riku,” Touma shook his head regretfully. “I kinda like giving hugs, but nobody in ZOOL ever accepts them. It took me forever to convince them to even do a group cheer before concerts.”  
“That’s a pity! Most of us in IDOLiSH7 love hugs! Only Iori and Yamato-san are a little difficult to convince sometimes.”  
“Hush, the ride is starting,” Tenn settled into a more comfortable position while still holding on to Sei. Their boat caught onto the underwater tracks and began traveling down the dimly lit riverway.  
“Woah, this place really makes it look like it’s nighttime in here.” Touma observed as he looked up at the black ceiling decorated with scattered twinkling stars. “Kinda creepy.”  
“Fufufu,” Tenn stroked Sei’s hair down and out of his face. “The ride is just beginning.”  
“Tenn-nii, what’s that supposed to—woah!” The boat lurched down a two foot waterfall. Riku grabbed on to Tenn’s free hand upon reflex, and Touma yelped. The lights dimmed even more, and the music changed from serene to ominous.   
“The tone completely shifted,” Touma whispered as if he was being strangled. “What kind of ride did you take us on, Kujou-san?!”  
Tenn remained quiet, with only a bemused smile dancing across his face. As they progressed they saw many animatronic Purins dressed as infamous pirates and sailors that once sailed the Atlantic Ocean. It depicted battle scenes happening at ports and on ships, complete with the booming of cannons, the feeling of sharp bursts of wind as if bullets were whizzing past, and the crackling of fake fires. Since Riku was finding no sympathy in Tenn, and Touma was just as freaked out as he was, whenever something startled them, they would grab onto each other and scream. Meanwhile Sei just stirred at the movement and nuzzled into Tenn’s shirt. The ride ended with the dawning of a new “day”, and everything returned to a brighter atmosphere.  
“I never would have expected that ride to be that intense,” Touma remarked as they retrieved Sei’s stroller.  
“Right?! That was pretty scary! Tenn-nii, it was kind of mean of you not to warn us!”  
Tenn put Sei back into his stroller and straightened up his shirt. “The map did describe it as a ‘dark ride’, I thought you would have known.”  
“More importantly than that,” Touma scratched his head, “how did that kid stay asleep through the whole thing? I thought for sure he was gonna wake up and start crying.”  
“Sei is used to sleeping through TRIGGER’s dance practices and performances. As an infant he once slept through an entire practice while he was in a carrier strapped to Gaku’s chest.”   
“Man, that’s pretty impressive. So where to next?”  
“That was the last ride we needed to go on in this area. Since we have Sei, we should go to Fantastic Land; there’s rides I think both Riku and he would enjoy.”  
“Awesome!” Riku happily followed. “Whoops, was I too loud again?” He peeked at Sei and saw him squirm and open his eyes. “Uh oh.” Sei stretched and yawned, then looked around. He noticed Riku and said hello. “Hi Sei! Did you have a good nap?” Sei nodded as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “We’re gonna find more rides to go on!”  
“Riku. It’s difficult to push while you stand in front of the stroller,” Tenn chided.  
“Ah, sorry, sorry!” Riku quickly trotted out of the way. The four of them left the limits of Ousama Purin Land and crossed into Fantastic Land. This part of the park was set up like a festival and fairgrounds, with its main attraction being a huge Ferris wheel. There were many food stalls set up with classic food you would see at festivals and others with food that might better suit foreigners more used to fair food. Touma got karaage, Tenn got a funnel cake, Riku got takoyaki and a strawberry chocolate banana, and Sei got karumeyaki. Once they were done eating, they continued walking through to where more rides were concentrated.  
“Tenn-nii! Look!” Riku pointed up at a ride that had a large mechanic body with many metal arms coming out of it. On the end of each arm were what looked like large mochi with two vertical black lines for eyes on the front of the bodies. “It’s the Big Dango’s Flight ride! That was our favorite ride to go on when mom and dad brought us here that one time when we were kids! Can we go on it?”  
“Why not,” Tenn rerouted and led them towards the Big Dango’s Flight. “Hah...this melody is so nostalgic,” he murmured to himself as they got to the entrance.  
“This one only sits two at a time,” Riku looked at the size of the seats in the Dangos. “Touma! Do you mind riding with Sei-chan so I can ride with Tenn-nii?”  
“Uh, sure, I guess. Come here, little guy, let’s go for a ride.” Touma struggled to decide on a way to pick Sei up, finally awkwardly picking him up from his sides under his arms. He set him on the bench seat in the nearest Dango and got in next to him.  
“Let’s ride in the blue mischievous one, just like we did when we were kids!”  
“You remembered that?” Tenn raised an eyebrow.  
“Of course! I remember because nobody wanted to sit in it, so I felt sorry for it.” Riku recounted with a sigh. The ride started, the arms raising the Dangos into the air, and began to rotate. “This brings back so many memories!”  
“Why don’t we take a picture.” Tenn pulled out his phone.  
The ride ended. “That was still a pretty fun ride, even after all these years,” Riku said as they walked away from the attraction.  
Touma spoke up while he pushed the stroller behind Tenn and Riku, “Sei-chan seemed to like it too. He would put his arms up and laugh every time the Dango soared up. Oh hey, I bet Sei-chan would enjoy that ride too!” He pointed to a sign that read Route 4 Bumper Cars.  
“Nice idea!” Riku cheered.  
“I don’t think I could trust either of you to drive a real car,” Tenn said with almost a shudder.  
“Hey, I got my license a little bit ago!” Touma protested. “And Minami has told me I’m a safe driver.”  
“Even still, I will have Sei ride with me. The two of you can ride your own car, and whoever avoids getting hit the most while remaining on the offensive, I will declare the better driver.”  
“Ooh, a competition to win Tenn-nii’s approval! Let’s go! I won’t let you win, Touma!”  
“We’ll see about that!”  
Once they were let onto the track, the three men scrambled to find the perfect bumper car. Riku was taking this quite seriously and almost got visibly upset when Touma claimed the red car he had picked out. Instead, he ran to the other side of the track and chose a car with a seven on the side. Tenn found a car slightly isolated from other cars yet far enough from the wall that he could maneuver himself away. He held Sei on his lap and let him hold onto the steering wheel.  
As soon as the buzzer went off and the cars could move, Touma headed straight for Tenn, while Riku drove towards Touma. Seeing he was already being pursued, Tenn stayed close to the wall and began driving around the track. Riku bumped into a couple cars and lagged. Touma got close to Tenn, but his path wasn’t as clear, which allowed Tenn to easily catch up to Riku. He tapped the back of Riku’s car, making Riku yelp with surprise and veer into an empty car. Sei giggled and shouted, “Again!” But before Tenn could react, Touma hit into the side of their car. After getting over the initial shock, Sei laughed once again.  
The battle ended, with everyone managing to get a few good bumps on each other. When they exited the ride, Touma and Riku looked eagerly at Tenn for his ruling. He looked them both up and down and then looked to Sei. “Sei. Who was the worse driver, Riku or Inumaru Touma?”   
Sei pointed to Riku. “GUH!” Riku clenched his chest as if he were just struck with an arrow.  
“Who accidentally bumped into walls and other cars more than anyone else?”  
Once again, Sei pointed at Riku. “OOF!” Riku arched his back as if he were hit once again.  
“Who ran away more than staying on the offensive?”  
Sei pointed at Riku again, purely to get another reaction out of him. Riku dramatically fell to his knees. “Touma, you’ve won Tenn-nii’s approval, con...gratulations.”  
Touma just looked half confusedly, half concernedly at Riku. “A-are you gonna be alright? Winning like this kinda makes me feel bad...”  
Tenn walked over and pulled Riku up. “He’ll be fine. He just better hold off on getting a driver’s permit any time soon. Now, let’s go. We have enough time to ride the Ferris wheel before returning Sei.”

“It’s still really weird how empty the park actually is,” Touma said as he looked down at the park when their carriage was at the highest point of the Ferris wheel.  
“It is indeed a rare chance. It isn’t often the park takes a day off,” Tenn nodded.  
Sei and Riku had their faces pressed against the Plexiglas of the carriage and were pointing at interesting things they saw. Every time Riku showed him something Sei would mutter a soft “Wow!” The next time they were near the top, Sei got very excited and exclaimed, “Ryuu-oji! Right there!”  
“Where, Sei?” Tenn peered out over his head. “Ah, over there. It seems he is running after Midou Torao, who seems to be trying to kabedon a woman.”  
“Ehhh?” Touma jumped up to look out the window too, rocking the carriage in the process. He watched as Torao had a woman up against the fence of the Big Dango’s Flight, his left hand holding onto the rung right above her head. Ryuunosuke caught up and peeled Torao’s fingers off the gate and tried to nudge him away to give the woman a way out. She took the opportunity and slipped away from the wall. Ryuunosuke put his hands up and seemed to be trying to apologize for Torao, who now looked completely disinterested.  
“She looks pretty upset,” Riku said. “Oh no! We’re still going down, I can’t see any more!” The Ferris wheel stopped, and everyone got out. Riku let Sei climb on his back and ran after Touma and Tenn who were already headed for where they had seen their group-mates. “Wait...for...me!” he panted.  
They arrived at the front of the ride to see that the woman had left, and Ryuunosuke was inspecting a red mark on Torao’s right wrist.  
“It doesn’t look dislocated or broken to me,” Ryuunosuke tried to take his wrist through range of motion.  
“Well it sure hurts like it!” Torao yelled as he yanked his hand out of Ryuunosuke’s grasp. “Remind me to never try to date martial artists anymore.”  
Ryuunosuke sighed. “We should find you some ice. The first aid station is by the--”  
“Tora!” Touma ran up first. “What happened?!”  
“I was trying to get the number off of one of the performers of that medley thing.”  
Touma groaned and face-palmed. “Why are you like this.”  
“I tried to calm her down,” Ryuu explained as Tenn strode up. “But then Torao-kun tried to put a hand on her shoulder and said something she didn’t like. So she twisted his wrist back behind him and stormed off.”  
“Coulda sworn she was my type,” Torao shrugged.  
“That’s what you have to say about it? Geez, you really need to change the way you approach women,” Touma said disgustedly.  
“Hah…” Riku finally arrived looking pale and breathing heavily.  
“Riku-kun!” “Riku!” Ryuunosuke and Tenn said at the same time. Ryuu quickly took Sei off his back while Tenn lead him to the nearest bench. “Why did you run after us, you fool, with Sei on your back no less. Where’s your inhaler?”  
“I—hah—just—wanted to—*cough*—keep up,” he tried to say while fumbling to get into his front pants pocket. He got his inhaler out and took two doses. His breathing relaxed somewhat, though he was still breathing quickly.  
“I’m going to take him to the first aid area so he can rest, Inuma—”  
“I’ll help you!” Touma cut him off.  
“But what about—Sei—chan? He needs to go—back to Manager.”  
“No need to worry about him, Riku-kun,” Ryuunosuke spoke up. “I’ll take care of him.”  
“Rikk-oji sick,” Sei said quietly, little tears forming in his eyes.  
“Don’t worry, Sei—chan—*cough*—I’m okay, I just have to—rest,” Riku smiled and patted Sei’s head as Touma and Tenn led him away. “I’ll see you later—, I promise!”  
“Bye bye,” Sei sniffled and clung onto Ryuunosuke’s neck.  
“Ryuu. His stroller is still by the Ferris Wheel. And send Gaku a Rabbit Chat to let him know what’s going on.”  
“Oh, sure! Good luck!” Ryuunosuke shifted Sei from his right arm to his left and pulled out his phone. “Torao-kun, could you please go get Sei’s stroller?”  
“Why can’t you? You don’t expect me to help you take care of a child, do you?”  
“No, of course not, but I would appreciate if you gave me a hand just this once, please?”   
Torao grumbled a “Fine,” then turned and walked towards the Ferris wheel.


	6. Wishes Shine on the Wave Pool

Ryuunosuke finished sending his message to Gaku and snuggled Sei, who was still moping. “It’ll be alright, Sei-chan. We’re gonna go find your mama and papa now. You don’t want them to see you sad, do you?” Sei whimpered and buried his face into Ryuu’s chest. Ryuu was caught between feeling pity for him yet also cherishing Sei’s preciousness. He tickled the back of Sei’s neck and got him to softly giggle, which in turn made him laugh too. “Ah, Tsumugi-san responded.”  
“We’re very sorry to hear about Riku! Hopefully after resting he will feel better quickly. We went over to the other section of the park to have lunch. Would you mind watching Sei-chan a little longer? Sorry for the trouble!”  
“Well, it looks like we’ll be spending more time together, Sei-chan. Do you want to go on some fun water rides with your Ryuu-oji?”  
Sei slowly lifted his head. “Water rides?”  
“Yeah!” he tickled Sei’s side and said excitedly, “We could go in the wave pool, or go on a boat ride, or we could splash in the fountains! Do you want to do that while we wait for your mama and papa?”  
“Yes!” Sei lifted his arms in a cheer, making Ryuu chuckle.   
Torao sulkily approached them pushing Sei’s stroller. “Thank goodness nobody was around to see me pushing this around. Take it.”  
“Ah, thank you so much, Torao-kun! Sei, can I put you in your stroller now?” Sei shook his head. “Are you sure?”   
Sei threw his arms around Ryuu’s neck and said, “Don’t leave!”   
Ryuunosuke’s face melted into heartbreak. “Don’t worry, Sei-chan, I am not going anywhere.” He hugged Sei close. “Torao-kun, before you go! Can I just ask for one more favor from you? I promise to pay for your dinner tonight.”  
“I’m listening,” Torao said as he slowly turned back around and walked back up to Ryuu.  
“Sei-chan doesn’t want me to put him down, but I need to get to BandnamcoSea to meet up with Gaku and Tsumugi-san. Would you mind coming with me and pushing the stroller some more? Like you said, there aren’t many people here to see you do it.”  
“Tch, fine, I’ll do it. But only because the lounge is on that side of the park, and that’s where I was headed.”  
“Thank you so much! The lounge is where the lockers and changing rooms are, so that’ll be perfect.”  
The two walked through the park back towards the entrance. On their way, they passed a female idol group that had also performed at the gala. One of them recognised Ryuu and ran up to him. “Tsunashi-san! Hello, funny running into you! Is that Yaotome-san’s son he was talking about the other night? He is adorable!”  
Ryuunosuke blushed and scratched the back of his neck. “Yes, this is Sei-chan. I’m babysitting him for a little while today.”  
“That is so sweet!” she cooed. “And you were…?” she asked.  
“Torao Midou, of ZOOL,” he introduced as he flirtatiously pushed his hair back. “I was, ah, just helping Tsunashi with the stroller.”  
“Aww, how kind! Well, I should go, the girls are waiting. Good seeing you again! Enjoy the rest of your day!” she called as she ran back to her group. She whispered to them for a couple minutes, and then one of the other women ran and caught up to Torao.  
“Feel free to give me a call sometime,” she said to him as she placed a piece of paper in his hand and then ran giggling back to the other girls.  
Torao read the paper; it had the woman’s name and phone number. He grinned mischievously. “Tsunashi, maybe I’ll go with you and the kid on some rides after all.”  
Near the entrance was another train depot where guests could catch a train to the separated-off BandnamcoSea. Ryuunosuke, Sei, and Torao rode the train and then headed to the lounge area not far from the depot. Under an umbrella table outside the lockers, Yamato, Sougo, and Minami were sitting having a drink. “Hey, Tsunashi-san!” Yamato called out. “So you ended up with Sei-chan too?”  
“Huh?” Ryuu tilted his head in confusion. “I’m just waiting to give Sei-chan back to Gaku and Tsumugi-san, so we were going to get changed and go on some water rides.”  
“Yo, Minami. Osaka,” Torao said while Ryuu talked with Yamato, “you aren’t babysitting that pudding kid?”  
“No, I am not with Tamaki-kun at the moment. I had come here to recover from a headache when I ran into Yamato-san. And then Natsume-kun had been resting here when I arrived.”  
“Indeed,” Minami said, pushing his hair behind his ear. “I needed a break from the social circle. I think I did enough to keep Ryo-san satisfied. We were just discussing the trials of growing up under the shadow of other people’s fame or expectations.”  
Ryuunosuke chuckled awkwardly. “Well, would you guys like to join us? I’m sure Sei-chan would enjoy more company.”  
“No, thank you, I didn’t bring a bathing suit,” Minami replied.  
“That’s no problem, Minami-kun, I packed an extra for Tamaki-kun. You could borrow that,” Sougo rummaged through his satchel and pulled out a pair of light blue swim trunks.  
“C’mon,” Yamato goaded when Minami tried to push the trunks away, “It’ll be just like that scene from that drama we both guest starred in last year. I was the chauvinist lifeguard boyfriend, you were the mild-natured childhood sweetheart of the main star.”  
“You shouldn’t sound so proud calling yourself that,” Minami said blankly. “Fine, I will come along for a little while. But if I get tired from being in the sun, I will take my leave.”  
“Alright, I understand,” Ryuunosuke said with a smile. “Sei-chan, let’s go get changed!”  
Yamato, Minami, Torao, Ryuunosuke, and Sei met up with Sougo at the lockers. “I took the liberty of renting a large locker for us to put all of our valuables in. And the locker attendant said that he would look after Sei-chan’s stroller for us. Here’s his bag; I left only the essentials in it.”  
“Perfect! Thank you, Sougo-kun! That’s a big help.” Ryuunosuke received the backpack and slung the straps over one shoulder. “Sei-chan told me he wants to go on a boat ride first.”  
“Well, there’s a couple rides like that here,” Yamato scanned the map of the park. “There’s the Mount Fuji Splash and the Water Paradise Rapids.”  
“Mount Fuji Splash is that one with that huge drop at the end,” Torao mentioned.  
“Yes, it is!” Sougo nodded, “It has a 16 meter drop. It’s the ride I look forward to the most here! Though Sei-chan isn’t quite old enough for it yet, so maybe we shouldn’t go on it...”  
“I could watch the kid while the rest of you go,” Torao offered.  
“Eh?!” Everyone turned and looked at him.  
“What?” he asked indignantly.  
“You don’t seem like the type to volunteer taking care of a child, especially since you have said in the past you don’t like children.” Minami looked at Torao quizzically. “You must have some kind of ulterior motive.”  
“Tch, of course you wouldn’t think I’m just trying to be helpful.” Torao crossed his arms. “Fine, just do whatever you want, I don’t care.”  
“Thanks for offering, Torao-kun,” Ryuu tried to say encouragingly. “Though I think I’ll just wait out here with him. I forgot to put sunscreen on the both of us. You guys go have fun. We can meet up at the Water Paradise Rapids ride.”  
“Have fun!” Sei parroted and waved.  
Yamato and Sougo immediately turned around and responded with emphatic farewells. “Natsume-kun, Midou-san, please, respond to Sei-chan,” Sougo urged. “He’ll start to cry if you don’t acknowledge him.” Minami smiled passively and waved once. Torao rolled his eyes and grumbled a “See ya.” Sei smiled and toddled next to Ryuunosuke, clinging onto the hem of Ryuu’s bathing suit. Since Ryuu was too tall for him to comfortably hold Sei’s hand, he would always have him hold onto his clothes.   
Ryuunosuke found his way to the Water Paradise Rapids, a ride where you sit in a large raft and sail through a twisting, turning tumultuous river. He found a bench in the shade and helped give Sei a boost onto it. Then he pulled out the sunscreen from Sei’s backpack. Sei scrunched up his face and whined, “No cream!”  
“Eh?” Ryuu looked at him quizzically while he squirted some sunscreen into his palm. “This isn’t just any cream. It’s a special cream that turns you into your papa! Look, I’ll show you!” He rubbed the extra strength formula sunscreen onto his own arm, leaving a bright white streak on it. “See? Just like your papa’s skin! Wanna try?” Sei, with his eyes wide with excitement, nodded. “Alright, here we go!” Ryuu began applying the sunscreen all over Sei’s arms, neck, ears, and face. “Perfect! Now you look just like Papa!”  
“Take a picture? Send to Papa?” Sei tried to reach for Ryuu’s pocket for his phone.  
“Ahaha, sure! Here, smile, and say cheese!” He took his picture and sent it to Gaku.   
“Your turn, Ryuu-oji!” Sei picked up the bottle of sunscreen and squirted a huge glob into his hand. He stood up on the bench and went towards Ryuu’s face.  
“Ehehe, I think that might be a bit too much, Sei—” he couldn’t finish his sentence before Sei smacked the lotion onto Ryuunosuke’s cheek. He groaned helplessly as Sei proceeded to rub it all over his face. “Hah...thank you so much Sei-chan…”  
“Say cheese!”  
“Wait, S-Sei-chan, don’t pick up my phone with—” Again, too late, Sei had already picked it up and had gotten sunscreen all over it as he tried to swipe open the camera. He was eventually successful and took a crooked photo, with his finger slightly covering the lens. He offered the phone back to Ryuu. “Thank you,” he tried to sound grateful as he wiped his phone off.  
“Send it to Papa and Mama!”  
“Alright, I will. What do you want to tell them?”  
“Ryuu-oji just like Papa now!” he said, outstretching his arms, mimicking a cheering Purin sticker.  
“Ahaha, that’s the perfect message.” Once he sent the Rabbit Chat, he wiped off some of the extra lotion from his face and put some on his neck. “Okay, now that that is done, how about you help me practice my dance steps for our next performance?”  
“ ‘kay!”  
“Let’s start with DAYBREAK INTERLUDE to warm up.” Ryuunosuke started playing the instrumental version of the song on his phone and got off the bench with Sei. Ryuu sang his and Tenn’s parts and let Sei sing Gaku’s. He began doing the dance to the music, trying to really exaggerate his movements so that Sei could try to copy him. They kept this up with various TRIGGER songs until Ryuunosuke noticed Sougo filming them, with Yamato, Minami, and Torao watching off to the side. “Oh, everyone! How long have you been there?”  
“Since Crescent Rise,” Torao answered as Sougo abashedly put his phone away.  
“That was two songs ago!” Ryuu sighed.  
“We didn’t have the heart to stop Sei-chan’s fun,” Yamato shrugged. “Plus it’s always a thrill to watch the Ero Ero Beast dance.”  
Ryuu turned red and tried to change the subject. “How was Mount Fuji? Eh, Torao-kun, how’d you lose your shirt?”  
“Just have a look at our souvenir photo for the answer. We got you a copy,” Minami passed Ryuu a photograph.  
In the front seat was Torao, whose face was covered up by a large wave of water. Sougo was in the seat behind him, with his arms fully over his head and his eyes and mouth wide open. Behind him was Yamato with his head pressed into the back of the seat and an almost furious look on his face. Minami was in the back seat, comfortably sitting with a neutral expression.  
“Minami-kun, how did you manage to stay so composed? That’s amazing!”  
“Osaka-san had suggested we try to do something fun when we went over the drop, so I employed my acting skills to keep a straight face.”  
“I was going to try to do my best Nagi impression,” Yamato said, “but that drop was way more freaky than I remembered.”  
“That stupid splash of water covered up my best smolder,” Torao pouted, “and completely drenched me. So I figured I might as well take it off now rather than stand around in a wet shirt.”  
“Ryuu-oji!” Sei hugged his leg, looking up at him. “Boat ride time now?”  
“Ah, right, as long as everyone else is ready?”  
“Of course! Let’s make sure we do everything Sei-chan wants to do before we have to return him to Yaotome-san,” Sougo smiled.  
They made their way up to the entrance of the Water Paradise Rapids. The cast member nearly fell over herself when she saw both Ryuunosuke and Torao. Torao made a show of walking next to Sei, even somewhat awkwardly ruffling Sei’s hair. Sei whined and tried to fix his hair, his two gray whorls popping back up. Everyone was able to fit in one of the large rafts, and Sei sat between Ryuu and Sougo. The cast member made sure everyone had their harnesses on, then sent their raft down the river. It was a very raucous ride, their raft being pushed this way and that by the currents, all while bumping into the walls and rocks along the way. Not a single person got away without getting wet.  
Once the raft made its way back to the beginning and everyone exited the raft, Torao lagged behind. He pulled out a waterproof case from his pocket and got out a business card. Offering it to the cast member, he winked and whispered, “I’ll give you a night you won’t forget.” She turned strawberry and accepted the card. He slicked back his damp hair and followed the rest of the group. They were on their way to the wave pool next.  
Everyone arrived at the wave pool and grabbed an inner tube. Sougo helped Sei get into a life jacket so that Ryuunosuke could peel off his soaked shirt. Afterward Sei ran and clung to Ryuu’s leg. “Are you ready to go in the water?” Sei shook his head and held on tighter. “No? What’s the matter?”  
“Big waves scary,” Sei mumbled into his leg.  
“But it’s just like the sea,” Ryuu said soothingly, bending down on his other knee and putting a hand on Sei’s back. “You can sit on the inner tube, and I’ll hold on the whole time. I promise.”  
Sei looked up at Ryuu’s reassuring gaze. “Promise?”  
“Yes, I promise. We don’t have to go in very deep either, just to where Yamato-oji is,” he pointed at Yamato, who was waist deep in the water trying to get onto his tube. Once Sei nodded in approval, Ryuu swung him up, tossed him into the air, and caught him, giving him kisses and nuzzles to make him giggle. Then he helped Sei sit in the inner tube and slowly walked with it into the water. Sei had his hand over Ryuu’s, making sure he was keeping a hold of the tube. As they got further in, the waves began to get bigger. He got a little more scared, but seeing Ryuu get excited helped him feel better. Once the waves were large enough and they were far enough in that Ryuunosuke had to jump with the waves, Sei began to enjoy himself.   
Yamato and Sougo joined them, taking turns splashing Sei and each other between waves. Ryuunosuke joined in, but accidentally got Torao in the process. That made Torao start splashing people too, including Minami, who had been lounging out on his inner tube. Minami looked disgustedly at him and kicked water back at him. Torao snickered, then overturned Minami’s tube before he had a chance to defend himself, just as another wave was passing through. Minami spluttered as he came to the surface and scowled.  
“Aw c’mon, Mina, I’m just trying to mess around,” Torao scoffed.  
Minami’s expression transformed to a smirk, and then he whipped around and shoved Torao into the next wave. “Fufufu.”  
Torao came up gasping and slumped himself over his inner tube. “That—was—dirty,”  
“Eye for an eye,” Minami retorted. “You should be more careful who you pick on. Those who appear weak are often the strongest.”  
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” he replied with another splash of water.  
The waves eventually came to an end, and everyone returned to the poolside. Ryuu checked his phone, and saw a few messages from Gaku and Tsumugi. The ones from Gaku were emojis in response to the photos Ryuu had sent. The one from Tsumugi was sent fifteen minutes ago, letting him know that they were finishing up and would meet up with him in front of the Jellyfish Splash-pad. “We’ve gotta go! We’ll see you all later!” Ryuunosuke picked up Sei after gathering their things and let him say goodbye to everyone before running off.


	7. Happiness is alright, If I can smile with you

“Where the hell is he?” Gaku complained as he walked up the path a few yards for the fourth time. “I’m gonna send him another Rabbit Chat.”  
“Gaku dear,” Tsumugi rested her hand on his arm when he walked back, “I’m sure he’ll be here soon. He warned us that he would be a little late, so why don’t we give him a few more minutes.”  
“Hah…” Gaku slumped onto the bench where they had been waiting for the last ten minutes. “It feels like it’s been an eternity since we saw Sei-chan.”  
“I know,” she said ruefully and flumped next to him under his arm, resting her head on his chest. “But at least he was having fun with our friends, and we got to do all of the things we would have liked to do that Sei-chan can’t yet. Even though I do miss him terribly. And we have so many gifts we got him in the shops we went in. Oh, I almost forgot, we should put sunscreen on your back now to save time when Sei gets here.”  
“You’re right, I should,” he kissed the top of her head as he sat up. He took his t-shirt off and turned his back towards Tsumugi. “Would you mind...giving me a hand?” he said in a low voice that sent chills down her spine.  
“O-of course!” she fumbled to open the sunscreen bottle and squeezed some into her hand. She gently placed one hand on his back to brace him, which made his ears and neck turn pink. She rubbed the lotion all over his shoulders and upper back. “I’ll get your face too.” He turned around to face her and couldn’t help but smile lovingly, his face slightly pink, when their eyes met. It was her turn to blush as she came in close. Just as she was about to put the sunscreen on his face, he leaned in and kissed her. They both giggled like two young lovers and started to lean in for another kiss.  
“Mama! Papa!” Sei came running up to them.  
Gaku and Tsumugi knocked heads as they turned to face their son. “Sei-chan!” They both exclaimed, their pain disappearing the moment they laid eyes on Sei’s excited face. He hugged their legs and then held out his arms. Gaku gladly scooped him up and gave him a big hug. Sei crawled across to Tsumugi and gave her a hug too.  
“Sorry we were late!” Ryuu explained while trying to catch his breath. “We were in the wave pool and I didn’t hear my phone. And then I had to run and grab the stroller before getting here.”  
“Sei-chan went in the wave pool?” Tsumugi asked with concern.   
“Don’t worry, he was wearing a life vest and stayed on an inner tube by my side the entire time. He really enjoyed himself too.”  
“What a brave boy!” Gaku kissed the top of Sei’s head. “Thanks for watching him for us, Ryuu.”  
“Any time! Well, uh, I should leave you two to putting that sunscreen on,” he said with an awkward grin. “I told Yamato-kun and Sougo-kun I would meet back up with them to go on the water slides.”  
Tsumugi blushed again as she looked down at the sunscreen still in her hand. “T-Thank you again for taking the time out to babysit Sei-chan for us. Enjoy the rest of your time!”  
Ryuunosuke waved goodbye after leaving the stroller next to the bench and headed off. Tsumugi let Sei back onto Gaku’s lap so that she could reach Gaku’s face and finish applying the sunscreen. Once she was done, they parked the stroller in the designated area in front of the splash pad. The splash-pad had different areas for all sorts of fun things. There were many different fountains shooting out of the ground, with the incline of the floor steadily dropping into a shallow pool, perfect for young children to play in. There was also park equipment with water sprayers and automatically filling buckets that would drop water on unsuspecting people who passed under them. Gaku and Tsumugi played with Sei in all of these areas, running after him and trying to splash each other as much as possible. Sometimes Gaku would turn on Tsumugi and begin to chase her. He would always catch up to her, grabbing her around her waist and lightly lifting her off the ground and twirling in circles. She would shriek and kick her legs up until he returned her to the ground laughing.  
It was nearly four-thirty when they took a break from playing for popsicles from a nearby kiosk. “We have to leave the park in an hour,” Tsumugi said, checking her planner on her phone, “to meet up with everyone to go to dinner.  
“Then maybe we should go back to the other half of the park and go on those rides we wanted to take Sei-chan on.”  
“Good idea, I think he would really enjoy that Big Little World ride we went on with all of those singing animatronics.”  
“That song is gonna be stuck in my head for ages if I ride on it again,” Gaku laughed.  
They went back to the changing rooms to get back into their day clothes. Tsumugi looked through Sei’s backpack, very perplexed at the giant stain on Sei’s original shirt, but even more confused at the sight of a prince costume that wasn’t there when she packed the bag the day before. When Sei saw her looking at it he exclaimed, “Ba-day sa-prise for Papa!” She nodded and quickly hid it in the bag before Gaku could see it when he peered over. Tsumugi nervously smiled at him then went back to finding Sei’s outfit. He smiled back, pretending he didn’t see anything and went back to getting changed.  
Once they were changed and ready, they took the train back to the other side of the park. Sei would not let go of Gaku, so he carried him on his shoulders while Tsumugi pushed the stroller. They rode the Big Little World ride, with Sei in Gaku’s lap. Gaku rested his chin lightly in Sei’s hair and and held Sei’s hands, making him dance or clap in tune to the song as he sang along. Tsumugi couldn’t stop taking photos.  
Afterwards, they were on their way to the next ride they wanted Sei to try. Tsumugi was carrying Sei on her hip now, since Gaku got tired of carrying him. The route Gaku chose led them past the Slippery Soba Slides. Sei pointed at it and looked to his mother. “Ride Soba Slides ‘gain, Mama?”  
“He wants to go on the slides again?” Gaku perked up. “I was just thinking of how fun they were!”  
“They were really fun...Well, I’d rather we go on something Sei-chan wants to do, so let’s do it.”  
Sei wanted to try climbing the stairs himself, but he got tired after going up ten steps and begged Gaku to carry him again. The three went down the slide together, just as they had the last time. Then they went on it again, this time having races to see who could slide down with or without Sei the fastest. Tsumugi won both times. Gaku’s penalty was that he had to go down the incredibly tall slide by himself. He almost slid down sideways due to his shock of how fast he was going. They tried to see if Sei was done or wanted to do anything else, but he refused to leave the slides. So, the rest of their time at the park was spent at the Slippery Soba Slides, trying all sorts of combinations of sliding down together.

“We’re gonna be late to my own birthday dinner!” Gaku grumbled as Tsumugi helped him button his dress shirt at the changing rooms near the park exit.   
“I couldn’t let you go all sweaty, you’d get cold in the car. Besides, almost everyone else said they’d be a little late since they would have to get changed. There, all done. Sei-chan, let’s go find Jiji and Ji!” Tsumugi took his hand as they began heading back to the limousine. When they got there, the TRIGGER car and the IDOLiSH7 van were just departing, making the presidents’ limo the last car from their group in the lot.  
“There you are!” Sousuke said with his arms crossed while he leaned against the side of the limo. “You’re going to be late to your own birthday dinner at this point.”  
“Nice to see you too, Oyaji,” Gaku grumbled as he brushed past him to open the door for Tsumugi.  
“Sorry we’re late, Sei-chan was having so much fun that it was hard to stop. I have so many photos to show you both!”

At last the limousine parked in the parking lot of the Japanese-style restaurant Gaku had chosen. Everyone else had already been seated in the private party room. It was already hectic when Gaku and his family entered the room, but it quickly erupted into a variety of happy birthday wishes and greetings. Tenn and Ryuunosuke were on either side of the doorway and popped party poppers the moment Gaku walked through. He jumped ever so slightly, but quickly recovered and laughed, giving the two of them hugs. Sousuke and Otoharu added their gifts to the table in the back that was already covered with presents. They sat down at the table, which already had many appetisers and drinks scattered about it.   
Riku, slightly red in the cheeks, came up with a bottle of alcohol. “Happily Birthday, Gakuu-san!” Riku stumbled over his words with a giggle. “May I pour your first drink?”  
“Ah, no that’s fi—yahhh!” Before he could decline, Riku had started to pour and spilled some in Gaku’s lap. “TENN. Why did you let Nanase drink!” Tsumugi quickly grabbed some napkins and tried to help him dry off.  
“I didn’t!” Tenn insisted as he snatched the bottle from Riku who was trying to apologize profusely.   
Touma spoke up, “All he had was a sip of my drink a couple minutes ago. He was curious what it tasted like so I let him try it. I had no idea it would affect him so much.”  
“What a lightweight,” Torao chuckled.  
“I’m glad to see that he’s okay now from his incident this afternoon,” Tsumugi commented.  
Tenn began pouring the rest of their drinks and replied. “Yes, he recovered after a rest in the first aid room. And we had a little more time to spare to explore the rest of the park.”  
“Tenn-nii’s the best!” Riku shouted, hugging Tenn from behind and making him splash Sousuke’s drink into his lap.   
Sousuke stood up and growled, “Kujou, get that boy in line!” He walked off to the bathroom to get cleaned up while Tenn returned Riku to his seat. Gaku couldn’t help but laugh.   
Sei couldn’t sit still until he could go up to every person and say hello. Tsumugi let him get up once everyone ordered their food. He started from the left of the head of the table where Gaku was sitting, with Ryuunosuke and Tenn, who each gave him a hug.  
“Did you have fun at BandnamcoLand today, Sei?” Tenn asked him.  
“Yeah!”  
“You were such a good sport, getting passed around today, huh—ah, he’s off already,” Ryuu laughed as Sei trotted down to the next two people.  
“Well, hello again, Sei-chan,” Yuki said relaxedly as he accepted Sei’s hug.  
“Sei!” Momo scooped him up and set him in his lap. “It was so fun hanging out with you today!”  
“So how did Sei-chan end up with Re:Vale?” Gaku asked Sousuke. “You were supposed to bring him back.”  
“Oh, that was after we had to get him a new shirt,” Anesagi explained. “I had another...engagement...I had to keep,” she glanced down the table quickly at Nagi, “so I let Izumi-san take him. Then Re-Vale-san wanted him.”  
“So that’s why you took forever to meet back up with me,” Sousuke observed with almost a grin.  
Sei wiggled out of Momo’s cuddling grasp and waved at Rinto, who waved back. He ran on to see Riku and Iori.  
“Are you feeling better now, Nanase-san?” Iori asked.  
“Yeah, now that I ate a little more, I feel sober again. Oh, hi, Sei-chan!”  
“Rikk-oji!” he gave him a hug and said, “No more sick?”  
“Sick? Nanase-san, did something happen?” Iori analyzed Riku’s face.  
He tried to laugh casually, but it came out stilted. “I’m totally fine now. I just got a little out of breath when we ran to meet up with Tsunashi-san.”  
“Kujou-san let you run?” Iori began to sound irritated.  
“N-not exactly, and don’t get upset with Tenn-nii, Iori! I’m fine now!”  
Sei lost interest and ran on. Nagi was showing Mitsuki the merchandise he got at the Cocona Cafe. “And Miss Anesagi had wonderful luck! Look at this limited edition Cocona and friends bromide set she let me have!”  
“Ah, hey, Sei-chan!” Mitsuki saw his opportunity to cut Nagi short and turned his attention to Sei. “You look so fancy in your dinner outfit! It even matches the colors your mama and papa are wearing!”  
“OH! What about his surprise costume?” Nagi reminded.  
“That’s right! We never told Manager about that.” Mitsuki got up and ran over to Tsumugi to explain the prince costume they bought for Sei for on Gaku’s birthday.   
Meanwhile Sei rounded the table and tried to say hi to Yamato and Sougo. They were already red in the face from drinking and laughing hard at the various things Tamaki was doing to entertain them. Right now he was trying to use chopsticks to eat a King Pudding. “Just—wait for the waiter—to get you—a spoon, Tamaki-kun!” Sougo said between giggles. Sei tugged on the back of Yamato’s shirt and said hello even louder.   
“Eh, oh, hey kiddo!” Yamato said as he ruffled Sei’s hair. Sougo reached over and sloppily tried to fix it for him. Sei giggled and ran to give Tamaki a hug.  
“Heya, Sei-Sei!” Tamaki gave him a high-five after accepting the hug.  
“Tummy ache?” Sei pointed at the pudding cup.  
“Nah, I’m fine now. Ban-chan took me back to the van and I had a nap. Then we played more arcade games and went on all the super fast coasters again. I bet I could eat another one of those giant parfaits, hehe” Tamaki continued trying to eat.  
“Maybe next time you could not be a giant pig and share it with the rest of us,” Haruka grumbled. “Hey, why’s the kid walking towards me?”  
“He wants to say hello. Give ‘im a hug, Sei-Sei!” Tamaki encouraged Sei, who was slowly inching closer to Haruka.   
“I don’t give out free hugs, not even to our fa—” Sei chan was looking up at him with tears beading up in the corners of his eyes. “Ugh, fine, come here,” Haruka gave him a halfhearted hug. Sei smiled and scurried on to the next person.  
“We meet again, Sei-chan,” Minami smiled warmly. “And such a good boy too, letting Torao take advantage of your innocence.”  
“Hey! I was just using the opportunities naturally presented to me! That kid helped me get four numbers! Two more chicks who saw me with him stopped me before I left.”  
Sei shyly said hi to Touma, who emphatically replied in kind and offered a hug. Sei’s face brightened and he returned the hug. “It was pretty fun riding stuff with you, Sei-chan. Kinda made me feel like a kid again.”   
“Yeah!” Sei replied as he toddled on to greet Anesagi and Banri.  
“So after your ‘definitely not considered a lunch date’, what did you do with the rest of your time?”  
“Well, Nag—Rokuya-san wanted to go on a few rides again, so since I hadn’t gone on any yet, he accompanied me for a while. But then we ran into the presidents and my President made me take him around the park. You have no idea how difficult it is to get that man to have fun on anything!”  
“I can imagine,” Banri chuckled. “So that explains how my President ended up doing things with Nagi-kun until Tamaki-kun and I met up with him.”  
“Ban-san, Sagi!” Sei waved at them with both hands.   
“Ohh, look at you, Sei-tan!” Anesagi cooed. “Isn’t he just handsome?”  
“Tsumugi-san always styles him so well,” Banri nodded. “Did you have fun with your family today, Sei-chan?”  
“Uh-huh!”  
“What was your favorite part of your day?”  
“Soba Slides with Mama and Papa!”  
A collective “Aww” was made by anyone within earshot of the conversation.  
“Speaking of soba!” Gaku exclaimed as he watched the waiters coming in with everyone’s food. “Come sit down next to Papa, Sei-chan, it’s dinner time!”

After more food, drink, and dessert than any person would be able to stand, the party wound down as Sei began to get sleepy.  
“We better get Sei-chan to bed,” Tsumugi said as she petted Sei’s hair while he rested his head in her lap.  
“The presidents too,” Banri gestured. Otaharu was sleepily propping his head up with his hand, and Sousuke had his arms crossed, head slightly bobbing with his eyes closed.   
Gaku snickered and stood up, addressing everyone, “Thanks again, everyone, for coming and celebrating with us! And thank you for all the gifts! I have enough to celebrate my birthday for over two weeks if I open one each day,” Gaku said with a laugh. “But now it’s time for us to head home. Please feel free to keep the party going! Have fun and get home safely!”  
His speech was met with a cacophony of cheers, farewells, and birthday wishes. Banri and Anesagi, who were the only two completely sober adults since they were driving, helped their presidents get up and walk to their limousine. Tamaki and Riku, who only drank a total of two alcoholic beverages between them, volunteered to help carry out the gifts. With gifts in one arm and the other around Tsumugi while she carried Sei, Gaku said one more farewell.  
“This was all around a pretty great way to celebrate my birthday, especially since I have to work on my actual birthday,” Gaku said as he settled into his seat in the limo.  
Tsumugi gingerly put Sei in his carseat. “And the celebrating isn’t even over. We have dinner with your mother’s side of the family when you get back from work on your birthday.”  
“Mmm, that’s gonna be nice too,” he put his arm around Tsumugi and snuggled close once she sat down. “But right now, I am just looking forward to getting home, and spending the night next to you.” He kissed her forehead and then rested his head on her shoulder. Within a minute, he was softly snoring.  
Tsumugi looked from her sleeping son to her sleeping husband and giggled. “Good night, my darlings.”


End file.
